Ignite
by MelKitty
Summary: "Or do you want to twist the knife in deeper? Do you get satisfaction from hurting me?" "Mara, Mara calm down I didn't mean-" Jerome started, getting up but she cut him off. "I hate you." she whispered stopping him dead in his tracks "I hate you much...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! This is my very first attempt to write a House of Anubis Fanfic. Please review and tell me all you're thoughts and feelings. I would really appreciate the feed back. For my younger sister, you got your wish. Enjoy!**

"_We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly..." _Mara whispered softly, slowly tracing the etched words with her fingers along the marble wall. It was just another boring day in her dull life. School, work, chores, homework, and bed. It was the same routine, every single day, and she was sick of it.

She traced the words again, her fingers lingering on the word 'love.' Love. Happiness. Comfort. Where had it all gone? When had she started feeling so alone, so empty? Was it when Mick and her had broken up or was it even before that? Perhaps it was when Nina moved in and one by one she started losing her friends. Not that it was Nina's fault or anything, but it just slowly started to happen.

First it was Amber, who she had lost over Mick, and ever since that day and now, four months later, the rift between them never fully healed. Next it was Patricia, who gradually became distant to her; spending most of her time hanging out with Nina, Fabian, Amber, and surprisingly Alfie. All five of them had formed a close nit club of some sort and refused to let anyone else in or know what went on in it.

Then it was Jerome, who technically really wasn't her friend, but they had bonded for a short period of time while Mick was away in the states. He had shared with her private tid bits about his life, about his parents, and mostly importantly, a glimpse into his real self. She'd seen him genuinely smile, laugh, and enjoy himself around her without putting up any self closing barriers. But that too had changed in a short while. During the campaign run, he had suddenly gone cold towards her, ditching her for Amber and ultimately causing her downfall. She had never understood why then, but now, looking back, she probably had a good idea why. It was because of Mick.

Mick. Mara closed her eyes sat down on the nearby park bench. Mick, he had been the best and worst mistake of her life. He had been her very first crush and boyfriend but in many ways he had been the one who spiraled her life out of control. Maybe she should have listened to Patricia's waring about him or even Jerome's. But had she? No. No, Mara, like many other teenage girls who were hopelessly smitten with their crush, had blindly refused to listen to her friends' advice and follow her girly hormones.

Look where she'd ended up now. Alone, sitting in a quiet park on a Friday afternoon. It really was pathetic. Kids her age were suppose to be out partying, hanging with friends, just having a good time; not sitting alone in a goddamn park thinking about their depressing life.

Mara shivered. The crisp April air had suddenly chilled, indicating that it was time for her to head back to the Anubis house. Casting a final look back at the marble memorial, Mara slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the park.

* * *

"Mara," Trudy's voice greeted her as soon as she stepped into the Dinning room "there you are. Thought you'd be out with someone. Everyone's skipping dinner today."

Mara shook her head. "No Trudy, I was actually-"

"Really? Mara out on a date? On a Friday? That's got to be the funniest thing I ever heard." Jerome's voice rang out, cutting her off in mid-sentence "After thing's went down in Micksvill, poor Mara can't seem to get any boy's attention."

Mara stiffened at his words. He had hit the nail on the head. After her break up with Mick, she really hadn't payed attention to anybody and vise versa. It was as if she had once again blended into the crowd, just another silent face.

"Jerome!" Trudy exclaimed, catching the look on Mara's face "That's quite enough."

"Sorry, sorry," The dirty blonde haired boy answered, stealing an apple from the fruit bowl "that was very insensitive of me. How are Amber and Mick doing, since we're on the subject? They seem to be going out almost every day. Very close."

"Jerome!"

"It's alright, Trudy," Mara quickly said "do you need help with dinner?"

"Yes, love. Would you mind setting the table? That would be lovely."

"Sure."

"Alright, I'll be getting the food ready then. Jerome, you help Mara too." Trudy advised before popping back into the Kitchen.

"But of course." Jerome muttered, taking a bite of his apple and staring at her with those piercing blue eyes. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable under his steady gaze and busied herself with setting the silverware out. She was plainly aware of the chair scraping back and soon another presence joined her.

"You know, you really don't have to help me set the table." Mara said, placing a fork on a plate "I can do it myself."

"Nonsense. Here, hand me a spoons." he answered, reaching forward from behind her and trying to pick up the pile of spoons. Their fingers lightly touched and Mara flinched back. She was very uncomfortable with their close proximity. She could feel him staring at her and she quickly tried to put the last of her forks down.

"Mara," she heard Jerome's voice from behind her "do I make you feel uncomfortable?"

Her heart slowed. "Of course not." she quickly injected, trying to change the subject "don't get any strange ideas."

"No," He murmured moving forward and bracing her between himself and the table "I think you're lying. I think you're afraid of me."

Mara glared up at him. "Am not. Now get off me, Jerome." When he didn't, she put her hands on his chest and gave him a little push. "I'm serious. Trudy will be out with the food any second now and the table's still not set."

"Really Mara. Are you just worried about Trudy or is there something else?" he whispered, leaning forward ever so lightly and pushing her into the table more.

Mara swallowed. She could feel Jerome's heart beating steadily through her right palm and she hazily wondered why she still had her hands pressed to his chest. And for some odd reason, she couldn't seem to look away from his eyes. They were hypnotizing. So deep, like endless pools of sapphire. And his lips...

"Oh my goodness. What are you both doing on the table?" Trudy's voice rang out, snapping Mara out of her trance.

She quickly shoved Jerome away and ducked out from under his arm. What was she doing, thinking such thoughts? Maybe she was finally starting to lose her mind, too much studying and not enough fun would do that to a person.

"Oh nothing, Trudy." Jerome answered coolly, running a hand through his hair " you know how us teenagers are, right? Always up to no good."

Trudy shook her head. "Well whatever you do, please not on the table. Mara sweetie, can you help me bring the food out please?"

Mara nodded her head. "Sure Trudy, be right there."

* * *

Dinner was very awkward. Not only was it just Jerome and her, but the way they were sitting didn't help lift the tense atmosphere. They were both sitting facing one another, and no mater how hard she stared at her mash potatoes, Mara could feel him staring at her.

"Can you please stop staring at me?" Mara said quietly, refusing to meet his eyes "It looks creepy."

"How can you even tell what it looks like when you refuse to look at me." Jerome answered easily, making Mara look up from her plate and glare at him.

"I can feel you're eyes boring a hole in me. And why exactly are you even here? Don't you and Alfie have some sort of prank that you should be doing?"

"Can't," He answered, taking a spoonful of mash potatoes in his mouth "Alfie's out with Patricia along with Nina, Fabian, and the rest of the lot."

Mara blinked. "Did you say Patricia?" she asked.

"Yes, I said Patricia. You're former best friend. Although if I do recall, she was Joy's best friend. Didn't you have Amber? Oh wait you lost her over Mick to Nina. Who do you have as a friend nowadays, Mara? I don't see you with anyone anymore."

That stung. It felt as if he had slapped her across the face. No one. She had no one. And he had to just rub it in more, didn't he? Make her feel more shitty than she already was. She shot out of her seat, startling Jerome in the process. She was surprised to find tears brimming her eyes.

"Yes, Jerome, I have no one. I am alone. Does it make you feel better now that I have admitted it?" She snarled, a few tears leaking from her eyes "Or do you still want to rub salt in my wounds? Mock me more about Mick and how he and Amber are so fucking happy and that I screwed up? Huh? Or do you want to twist the knife in deeper and say that all my friends are gone and I have nothing left? Do you get satisfaction from hurting me!"

"Mara, Mara calm down I didn't mean-" Jerome started, getting up but she cut him off.

"I hate you." she whispered stopping him dead in his tracks "I hate you so much, Jerome. I don't know even why I thought you were a good person, that you were my friend when all you do is constantly say things that hurt me. I was so stupid to ever think that. So stupid."

With that Mara turned and ran out of the room, or so she tried to, but a had hand clamped hard on her arm and made her forcibly stop. She struggled to get free but he wouldn't let her go.

"Let go of me!" She screamed, wildly thrashing around in his grip "Let go Jerome! What do you want from me?"

"I want you to calm down, Mara." Jerome answered evenly, turning her around so that she was facing him.

Mara furiously shook her head and tried to pull away from him. "No! Let go of me. Why the hell should I even listen to you? Who are you to me?"

"Who the hell am I? I am the one who knows you the best." Jerome hissed, pushing her into the wall as an attempt to stop her from struggling so much. "I'm the one who knows what you like and dislike. I'm the one who knows what you are feeling and where you are every afternoon. I'm the one who knows your strengths and weaknesses. I'm the one who cares about you. Goddammit Mara, look at me!"

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. No, no, no! She refused to believe a single word he said. Refused to believe anything he said. She just wanted to go up to her room, crawl in her bed, and just forget about everything.

"Listen to me," She heard him say softly and felt him gently grasp her face in both hands, forcing her to to lift her face up and meet his eyes "I'm the one that loves you."

And with that, he slowly brought his lips down to her's and closed the gap in between them.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! First of all, thank you all for the wonderful reviews! It really made me happy! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, although I feel like some of you will be disappointed by it :/ Please review and tell me your thoughts, feelings, and what you want to happen between the two. Thank you and enjoy!**

**Tweet me at ChuCookie for any questions, concerns, and/or requests.**

The first thing that came to Mara's mind when Jerome's lips touched her own, was that they were soft. Why she found that surprising, she did not know. Maybe it was the fact that never actually sat down and thought about how Jerome's lips felt let alone kissing him, but all that was soon forgotten when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer; deepening the kiss.

Mara felt herself respond back. Timidly, she slid her hands up his body and felt the tight wrought muscles that lay just beneath his shirt. He shivered at her touch. Feeling a bit bolder and excited at the reaction she had caused within him, Mara slowly snaked an arm around his shoulder and ran a hand through his soft hair.

He was intoxicating. The scent of him, the taste of him, the feel of him; everything about him was intoxicating and Mara could feel herself drowning deeper and deeper in him. The way he held her, how his touch burned her skin, causing warm tingles to shoot through her body, and his eyes. Oh god, how she loved his eyes. So deep and vivid, emotionative and alert. Yes, Jerome had the best-

She snapped back to reality. Jerome. She was kissing _Jerome. _The shock of what she was doing suddenly hit Mara with full force and she abruptly pushed him back. What was she doing? Had she gone mad? Had_ he_ gone mad? Kissing her out of no where, telling her he cared for her, saying he_ loved _her? Mara's head spun. It was too much. It was all too much.

"What are you doing?" she asked panicked, slowly inching away from him. She was scared, frightened at the raw new emotion that had just coursed through her moments ago. And the fact that it was Jerome who had caused her to feel this way absolutely petrified her even more.

"What do you think? Kissing you." Jerome answered airily, still dazed from their previous ordeal. He turned to smile at her, but one look at her alarmed expression and his smile faltered.

"Please tell me that you're not going to run." he groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Mara took a step back. "No..."

Jerome took a step forward "Why do I have a hard time believing that?"

She took another step back. "Because-"

"Oh my god, what are you two doing?" Amber's voice asked from behind them "Are you guys like kissing or something?"

Jerome swore "No Amber, we are not kissing-" he started before being interrupted by another voice.

"Mara, what are you doing? Jerome get off of her. Now." Patricia ordered.

"I'm not on her-" He growled but was interrupted yet again by another voice.

"Nice one, mate. Guess plan Stay-Alone-With-Mara-and-Win-Her-Over worked. Now I'm glad you said no to coming with us to the amusement park." Alfie cheerfully injected.

Mara's brows furrowed at Alfie's words. Plan? Jerome planned this? To corner her and kiss her? What?

"Alfie!" She heard Jerome snap "Shut your bloody mouth."

"Mara, are you, are you crying?" Patricia asked, trying to peer at her over Jerome's tall form "What happened?"

Mara blinked and touched the dry tear streaks on her cheek. Oh, that's right, she was crying before. With all the craziness going on around her, she had forgotten about her earlier bawl.

"Isn't it obvious," Amber answered in her place, tugging a strand of her blonde hair "Jerome probably said something to make Mara cry."

"What? No I did-"

"Oh well, guess the plan didn't work then." Alfie said, scratching his head "Any other bright ideas? Do you have a plan B?"

"Alfie," Jerome growled "For the love of the Queen, _shut up_."

Alfie put his hands out. "Hey, hey, hey, no need to get all snappy at me. You're the one who didn't get what he wanted."

"I'm with Alfie on this one. If you made her cry you need to apologize fast. I suggest with flowers and candy. Ooo like little heart shaped chocolates. They are the absolute best." Amber added.

"Nobody cares what chocolate you like Amber," Jerome snapped "now would you all just leave us alone?"

"No way. You made Mara cry and now you have to apologize." Amber replied stubbornly, crossing her arms.

Mara had just about enough of this non-sense. Not only were they talking about her as if she wasn't in the room, but the bickering was starting to give her a massive headache. And the fact that she had a ton of things on her mind, didn't exactly help up lift her mood. No, what Mara wanted at that exact moment was to go up stairs, dive into her warm, inviting bed, and forget about everything. So that's exactly what she did.

Rubbing her temple, Mara simply walked out of the room. She could hear Jerome call out to her but she ignored him. Thankfully no one interrupted her on her journey up to her room, she couldn't deal with Nina or Fabian randomly stopping her in the middle of the corridor to ask her what was going on, or worse, Mick. Walking in, she kicked off her shoes, slipped off her school uniform, changed into her PJs, and climbed into bed. Finally Mara was at peace.

Snuggling deeper under her covers, Mara's thoughts went back to Jerome. As much as she hated to admit it, she had enjoyed that kiss. A lot. It was searing, tempting, bitter sweet kiss that sent chills up her spine and made her whole body ache with want. She licked her lips. She could still feel the taste of him and the scent of him still lingered on her skin.

Mara felt her body heat up at the vivid memory. But what did it mean? That was the thought that baffled her still. Did it mean she liked him? Didn't she just tell him she hated him? And where did it leave them now? This was the same repeat of what had happened with Mick four months before, except with Mick, Mara knew she had feelings for him. With Jerome it was a whole new ball game.

She groaned and pulled the covers over her head. With Mick everything had been easy. He was sweet and kind, easy to get along with and easy to humor. With Jerome it was the other way around. Where Mick had been a calm sea, Jerome was a raging tsunami. Where Mick had been an open book, Jerome was like the thick pages of a mystery, shrouded in shadows, just waiting to be solved. They were like night and day, polar opposites.

But the one thing that Jerome had said which Mick never uttered, was to say he loved her. That small four letter word, why would he say it? They never were that close to begin with and hardly spoke to one another, unless it were petty insults or witty remarks. So why on earth had Jerome said he loved her? Maybe it was a lasp in judgment on his part. It was irrational and illogical. They were only sixteen for Christ's sake! No one fell in love at that age, it was proven by science. Crushes yes, but love? A definite no.

Mara closed her eyes. Patricia would probably be here any second to interrogate her about what really happened with Jerome and what would she tell her? That he told her loved her? Yeah, that sounded just swell. Guess Mara could tell her that they kissed, no, that _he _kissed her. Yes, that wouldn't seem quite off for Jerome, he was a flirt after all.

Mara waited and right on cue she heard the door open and close and her covers were suddenly yanked off of her. Patricia stood tall, eyes narrowed, staring down at her.

"Ok, spill. What really happened with you and Jerome? And don't you dare say 'nothing'."

Mara sighed and sat up. "It really was nothing, Patricia..." She began but was quickly cut off by the fiery brunette.

"Bull." Patricia commented with a wave of her hand and sat down on the bed "from the way Jerome is chasing Alfie around the house, it defiantly wasn't a 'nothing'. Come on, what happened?"

"We only- wait, did you say he's chasing Alfie around the house?" Mara asked incredulously, and as soon as the words had left her lips, she heard a loud crash followed by Alfie's unmistakable yell. She blinked. What the hell was going on out there?

'Yup," Patricia replied "and as you can hear, it's still going on. So what did happen?"

"Nothing. He just kissed me, no big deal."

Patricia quirked an eyebrow. "Really? He kissed you and that's it?"

Mara nodded and wrung her hands together. He also told her that he loved her and cared for her and made her cry, but she wasn't going to tell her that, especially the crying part. That would bring up more questions and Mara wasn't ready to venture into that territory just yet.

"Then why were you crying? Was he that bad of a kisser?"

The opposite actually she thought but instead said "He said something to upset me, that's all."

"And then he kissed you?" Patricia asked slowly.

She nodded again. Yes, it did sound very odd when seen from out of the context of the actual fight. But it would have to do.

"That wank," Patricia hissed out "He first makes you cry and then he kisses you? Talk about being bi polar. But anyways, I'm glad that you're not going for him, he's just another insensitive jerk." She paused for a moment "You aren't trying to pull him are you?"

Mara shook her head furiously. "God no, Patricia! I don't fancy Jerome!"

"Good, good, just making sure that's all. Anyway, I'm going to go shower and change out of these sweaty clothes. So if Alfie runs in here, well, pretend you are Jackie Robinson and toss that lamp at his head."

"Won't that injure him greatly?"

Patricia smiled. "Of course not, he has good reflexes. It will hit the tall idiot behind him."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Anyway, off I go."

As soon as Patricia left the room, Mara curled back into her bed and pulled the covers over her head. Did she really not fancy Jerome? Or was it just her hormones talking? You couldn't just start liking a person by the way they kissed...could you? She let out a sigh of frustration and buried her nose into her pillow. She would just not talk to him, yes that seemed like the perfect solution. Until Mara could collect herself and sort out her emotions, she would not make contact with him. Simple enough.

She closed her eyes and started to relax back into her plush mattress when another dreadful thought gnawed at her brain. Mara's eyes popped open and she let out another frustrated groan.

How on earth would she avoid Jerome for the whole weekend?

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews! Here's another lovely chapter, It's actually much longer than the other two and I would love it if you would please review. I want all the feedback I can get so I can see if it's good, bad, or needs improvement. I would also love to hear all of your opnions. So please review and enjoy!**

Avoiding Jerome was easier said than done and Mara found that out the hard way. Even before she was ready to jump out of bed the next morning and make her escape plan, she ran into him on her way to the bathroom. Thank god she looked so disheveled and distorted, stumbling around in her nightwear, that he bought her little lie of not being fully awake. She had quickly gotten past him by mumbling incoherent words and swaying ever so drunkenly on her journey to the bathroom, in a desperate attempt to keep her 'sleep' facade up. It had worked, and now here she was, ten minutes later, pacing around the tiny washroom with the facet turned on; wondering if Jerome was still standing outside.

Mara pinched the bridge of her nose. This was getting ridiculous. Why was she so scared? So what if Jerome was there? She could always just shove past him and head straight for her room. And if he tried to stop her, an icy look would do the trick. Anything, anything at all, was better that what she was doing now; pacing around the bathroom at seven am on a Saturday. Yeah, defiantly better.

Turing off the water and taking a deep breath, Mara cracked open the bathroom door and peeked outside. The hallway was empty. Good. Creeping slowly out, she quietly shut the bathroom door behind her and tiptoed back to her room. It was a foolproof plan, that is, until she closed the door and turned around, only to find Jerome sitting on her bed; grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Mara jumped back. "What are you doing here?" She asked in surprise "And why are you on my bed?"

Jerome gave her a sly smile. "Why, waiting for you of course. I figured, after how you almost killed yourself trying to go to the restroom a few minutes before, I'd simply wait for you in here. I mean, you were bound to come back and change right? Unless you were planning of going downstairs in a flimsy tank top and shorts." He slowly gave her a once over "Although, I can't say that I dislike the sight."

Mara blushed at his words. "Of-of course not." she stuttered out, squirming under Jerome's intense gaze "This is only for sleeping. I'd never wear something like this out in public, it's too revealing."

"Of course not," he said, getting up and walking towards her "it's far too scandalous for our little Mara to wear, right? Still playing the good girl card. Nothing outrageous, nothing that stands out, always blending in and staying to your books." He put his hand on the door behind her head and leaned down. Mara's heart thudded in her chest.

"Although, I find it very sexy," he whispered in her ear, sending an shiver up her spine "a simple, natural looking Mara with tinted cheeks and a seductive outfit." He cupped her face with his other hand and brushed his thumb lightly across her bottom lip "Mmmm, very arousing indeed."

Mara turned her face away from his grip. "That still doesn't explain why you're here, Jerome. If you were just going to come in and corner me, couldn't this wait until after breakfast?"

He took a step back. "That is true, and as much as I would love to say that I came here to 'corner' you, I actually came to talk."

Mara crossed her arms. "So talk. And when I say talking, I mean no physical contact."

Jerome quirked an eyebrow. "No physical contact?"

"No physical contact." Mara answered firmly.

"Alright, alright," he laughed and walked back to her bed and sat down "aren't you going to sit? Surely I don't bite, unless you want me to that is." He shot her a wicked smile.

Mara sighed and walked over towards Patrica's bed that was opposite her own and sat down. She gave Jerome an expected look. "So what was so urgent that you had to barge in my room at seven am and prevent me from getting dressed and eating breakfast?"

Jerome ran a hand through his hair, a habit she noted he did when he was nervous or frustrated, and began to speak.

"Ok, I want to talk about what happened between us yesterday."

Mara closed her eyes. She was hoping to avoid this conversation. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," he was fidgeting "that I meant every word that I said."

"Oh. You mean about mocking me about my lack of friends?"

His head snapped up. "What? No! I never meant it like that. I was just.."

Her eyes narrowed "Just what, Jerome? Making casual talk?"

"No, I just wanted to talk with you. I didn't know that it would hit a nerve."

Mara scoffed. "Talk with me? Really? And the only way you could 'talk' with me was to make fun of my lifestyle? Wouldn't a simple 'hello Mara, how are you today' have done the trick?"

"No it wouldn't have." Jerome said softly.

"How would you-"

"Because I know you, Mara," he snapped "for the past four months you have been an unemotional shell, just saying a few words and going back into your own world. The only way I could get any emotion from you was to say things that would hit a nerve. And guess what, it worked."

Mara was silent for a few moments. "And crying was the emotion you wanted out of me?" she asked him quietly.

"No it wasn't. But the yelling? Yeah. At least that was a reaction better than what you have been doing for a long time. Hiding behind the walls you build up around you."

Mara shot up. "Don't you _dare_, give me a lecture about hiding behind walls, Jerome." she spat out "Not when you do the exact same thing."

"I don't do the 'exact same thing'." Jerome stated, getting up as well "I don't go around with a dark cloud over my head, Mara."

"Of course you don't. You just pretend everything is fine and dandy, and hold everything in. I guess I should also plaster a fake smile and prance around without a care in the world, huh?"

"At least that's better that moping around all the time!"

"I was never moping!"

"Yes you were." They were now standing face to face, glaring at each other.

"No I wasn't. And it's none of your business anyways! Stop sticking your nose into things that don't concern you!"

"It is my business because it concerns you." Jerome stated, taking a step closer to her and grabbing her face in both of his hands "Didn't I explain that to you yesterday? I. Care. About. You. How simpler do I have to make it for you to understand?"

"That's just it," she said softly, placing her hands on his " I don't. Why do you care about me? We never spent any time together. You can't just say things so lightheartedly, Jerome" She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of his fingers on her face. It was soothing, as odd as that sounded.

"You're right, Mara. I do say things lightheartedly," her heart slowed. She knew it, it was all a lie. "but this time I'm serious. I really do care about you."

Mara's heart accelerated at his words. He wasn't joking? Did he really care? No, it was too much. This was all too much. It was happening way too fast and she wasn't ready for it yet. Not after everything with Mick. It was too soon.

"Stop it." Mara said, stepping away from him "Seriously, Jerome. Stop it. It's not funny."

"Why do you always think that I'm joking?" Jerome said exasperated "Why can't you just believe me?"

"Because!" Mara yelled, whipping around to face him "It doesn't make any sense! It's illogical."

"That I care about you?"

"That you love me!" She took a deep breath and touched her forehead "Jerome, people don't fall in love at sixteen. It's a crush, more likely a phase. Nothing more."

His Jaw tightened. "Are you saying that my feelings for you aren't real?" His eyes were cold "Because I think I'm perfectly capable of deciding what's real and what's not."

"No, Jerome that's not-"

"Why are you so scared of liking another person, Mara? Or is it because it's me telling you that I'm in love with you and not Mick?"

Mara froze. "Mick has nothing to do with this. Leave him out of it."

Jerome laughed humorlessly. "And she defends him, too. Perfect. Just perfect. Guess I wasted my time for nothing, huh? Forget it, I'm leaving."

Guilt bubbled inside her and she reached out to stop him. "Jerome, wait. I'm sorry. It's just, I-I can't."

"Why?" he quietly asked "at least give me a reason other than telling me my feelings are a phase."

"I don't know. For starters, I don't fancy you." At least she thought she didn't, she was beginning to doubt that...

"I know that, Mara. But can't we at least give it a try?" He sounded so hopeful that it crushed her on the inside.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but-"

He shook her off. "Save it. I got the hint. So sorry for wasting your time, Mara. I hope you can find it deep in your heart to ever forgive me." Jerome spat bitterly "Oh wait, that's right, it's surrounded by barbed wires."

"Jerome stop being so dramatic. It's just a silly crush. It will go away soon, like they all do." Mara said weakly, trying to cool the flame, but it did the opposite.

He spun around to face her. His eyes were livid. "It's not a silly crush, Mara, and don't you dare say it is. I have liked you for four years now. Four years. Now tell me if that's a silly 'crush'?"

She was speechless. "W-what?" Mara managed to squeak out. That was not possible.

"Yes Mara, I have had my 'silly' crush on you for that long. But I guess I was naive enough to believe that if I actually told you my feelings, that you might actually think it over. Silly me. If I'd known that you were going to be this cold and difficult, I would have never made a fool of myself. But guess what, I did anyways. God, I was so stupid!." He slammed his fist again the wall making her jump "So fucking stupid!"

She could see it. The snares slowly closing back around him, coiling and weaving until every ounce of his vulnerability was hidden yet again. And it was her fault. He had opened up to her and she had hurt him, deeply. She had basically mocked his feelings, told him that what he felt was a lie, a figment of his imagination. She had crushed him.

Mara felt sick as she watched him walk out the room. As soon as the door shut slammed shut, She crumbled to the floor, replaying the last of his words over and over again in her mind._ "If I'd known that you were going to be this cold and difficult, I would have never made a fool of myself." _She closed her eyes. "_If I'd known that you were going to be this cold and difficult..." "...difficult..."_

There was that word again. Difficult. It was the same word that Mick had called her when they broke up. Difficult. Then the memories started to come up. One by one, all the forgotten fragments of her past, the ones that she desperately tried to lock away, started to emerge.

"_Mara, why are you being so difficult? I told you there is nothing going on between Amber and me!"_

"_I never said that there was! I am just mad that you forgot our date, again!"_

Mara screwed her eyes shut. "Stop it, stop it. Go away." She whispered.

"_Oh is that's what it's about? It was just a stupid date, Mara. We can have loads of them later. I had something important to do."_

_Mara froze. "A stupid date? You don't understand do you? It wasn't a stupid date, Mick..."_

"_Mara, it was one date I missed. I told you I had something important to do." Mick groaned._

"_You always have something important to do, Mick!" she screamed, throwing her purse on the kitchen counter "And I understand that, but today was very important to me. What was so urgent that you had to miss it?"_

"_Amber-"_

"_I knew it!" Mara exploded, probably waking the whole house up "It always has something to do with Amber! News flash Mick, you're dating me NOT Amber!"_

"_Maybe I should be!" He shouted "Dating you was a mistake!"_

"Mara?" Patricia's voiced Jolted her out of trip down memory lane "Are you alright in there? You kinda missed breakfast."

"Yeah," she called back, scrambling up to go change "I'll be down in a minute. Changing. Save some toast for me!"

"Ok, I'll tell Trudy. Hurry up!"

Mara pulled the her top over her head. This was going to be a long day...

* * *

Surprisingly enough, Mara didn't run into Jerome for the whole day and when she did (twice), he would give her a chilling smile and walk past her, not even bothering to say a word. Needless to say that he was dead set on avoiding her. Ironic wasn't it? The guy who she desperately wanted to avoid, was now avoiding her. Even at dinner, when her hand lightly brushed his when passing the peas to Nina, he jerked it away as if she had burned him. He even switched his chore time with Alfie to avoid her. Had she really hurt him that bad? Mara felt awful. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

* * *

Sunday was worse than Saturday. As soon as Mara had walked into the dining hall for breakfast in the morning, Jerome had gotten up to leave, brushing past her with out a glance back. She stiffened, feeling an unexpected wave of hurt pass through her. Did he hate her that much now?

"What was all that about?" Nina asked, sipping her orange juice "I've never seen Jerome eat that fast or that little for that matter. Something must be up with him."

"More like someone." Alfie winked at Mara's direction "So, Mara. Trouble in paradise?"

She glared at him. "Shut up Alfie. There's nothing going on with Jerome and me."

"Wait, what?" Fabian asked, confused "Jerome asked you out? When?"

"He did no such thing, Fabian." Patricia stated flatly, walking in "Jerome's a prick. A manipulative, annoying prick. That's just it. Oooo toast! Hand me a slice, Nina."

"He didn't?" Amber asked "But then why was he kissing her yesterday? You just don't kiss random, people you know."

"Who was kissing who?" Mick asked, coming in the room and grabbing an orange "What did I miss?"

"Oh, nothing much," Amber started "we were just discussing Mar-"

"Martin Luther king." Mara quickly injected, not wanting Mick to hear the gossip about her and Jerome "A really good bloke, he is."

Mick gave her a weird look. "Ok...guess I'll see you guys later. Football practice."

"We have a football team?" Nina asked as soon as Mick left the dining room "Do they even play football in this country?"

Fabian laughed. "No, Nina. Not that kind of football. He meant the sport that you Americans call 'soccer'."

"Oh," Nina blinked "Wow. I feel stupid now."

"Hey, wait! Since when were we talking about Martin Luther King, who ever he is? I thought we were talking about Mara and Jerome?"

"No, we were talking about football." Patricia said, buttering her toast "Keep up Amber."

"Well! Sorry to be misinformed." Amber stated getting up "Come on Alfie, I have a hair appointment and after that, shopping. I would love to have a someone help me with the bags."

"Right behind you." Alfie muffled out, stuffing the last of his toast in his mouth and gulping down his orange juice "Later mates. Oh, and Mara?"

"Hmm?" Mara asked, taking a sip of her juice.

"Good luck with Jerome. I'm sure you both will make wonderful babies."

Mara choked on her Juice. "Alfie!" She coughed "Not funny!"

"Oh yes it is!" He laughed, running after Amber down the hall.

"Are you alright?" Nina asked her tentatively "I'm surprised that juice didn't squirt out of your nose."

Mara coughed. "I'm grateful for that, Nina. So what are you guys planning to do today?"

"Oh, well we found this really cool Museum exhibit in London, on the different Egyptian gods. And I mean, like all of the pieces and relics are flown in from Egypt." Nina said excitedly "And Patricia, Fabian, and I were going to check it out right after breakfast."

"Oh, well that sounds exciting." Mara said a bit dejected. Everyone had something to do besides her. Well, something exciting anyways. Homework on a Sunday? How thrilling.

She watched as the three of them exchanged a look. "Well, you can come with us if you want Mara. The more the merrier." Nina asked.

Mara shook her head. She didn't want to have a pity invite. "No, it's ok. You guys have fun. I have a ton of stuff to do here anyways."

Patricia raised an eyebrow "Quantum physics?"

"Among, other things." Mara answered ominously.

"Ok, good." Fabian started getting up "Then we should be going as well. Nina?" He reached a hand for her.

She giggled and accepted. "Why, yes. That would be lovely."

"Oh please." Patricia rolled her eyes "If you both are going to go all lovey dovey on me at the Museum, then I'm ditching you. No one likes to feel as a third wheel."

"Don't worry, Patricia. Of course we'll include you in our lovey doveyness, right Fabian?"

"Of course," The brunette boy answered "you can even go and buy heart shaped chocolate and we'll all share."

"Yuck. I think I'll pass. Later Mara. We'll see you at lunch." Patricia waved, following the other two out, leaving Mara to sit alone at the empty table to ponder what to do for the rest of the day. She sighed and started to clean up. Today was going to be a long boring day.

* * *

It was promptly eleven when Mara finished the last of her homework. Closing her calculus book, she stretched back on her seat and stared up at the ceiling. Now what? She had absolutely nothing to do. Suddenly, she heard her stomach growl; rather loudly too. Mara blinked. Well, that answered that question. To the kitchen it was!

"Trudy," She called once she was downstairs "I'm hungry, can I make something? Trudy?"

She poked her head into the Kitchen. Empty. That was odd. Trudy never left the kitchen, especially when lunch time was just around the corner. Where could she be? Then she saw it, stuck on the refrigerator, in Trudy's cursive hand writing it said 'Out to the fish market. Be back soon! -Trudy'

"Well, that's just great. What are we suppose to do now?" A voice said behind her, nearing causing Mara to have heart failure.

"Mick!" She cried, placing a hand on her fast beating heart "Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Mick gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry Mara, I forgot that you are skittish as a kitten."

Mara huffed. "Am not."

"Are too."

"Am Not."

"Are too."

"Am not!" Mara said, stamping her foot "And this argument ends now."

Mick laughed "You are so childish, Mara."

In response to that, she stuck her tongue out. "Am not."

Mick gave her a look. "We are not starting that argument over again, Mara."

She nodded. "Agreed. So now what? I guess we should make something to eat right?"

"Yeah, I was thinking cookies."

"Um, Mick?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't eat cookies for lunch..."

"Well, you could." He said seriously "There is no rule against it, you know."

Mara burst out laughing at his expression. "What?" He asked defensively "It's true."

"Ok, ok," Mara giggled out "we can make cookies too. But, we also have to make something that's not high in sugar and that can be considered a meal."

He thought for a moment. "What about pizza?"

"Well, do we have all the ingredients for it?"

"Yup!" Mick answered cheerfully.

"Alright then, lets get cooking."

* * *

"Mara, why do I have to wear the pink apron?" Mick whined, tugging on the flowery magenta apron "Can't you switch with me?" They had just finished making the pizza dough and while they waited for it to rise, they were working on the cookies.

"Because," Mara answered, waving her spoon "I like the color purple. And ladies get to choose first. Now stop your whining and sprinkle some more flour in."

"Fine, I'll sprinkle some flour for you." Mick answered, before grabbing a fist full of flour and tossing it at her direction.

"Mick!" Mara cried, laughing "What are you doing?"

He gave her an adorable smile. "Well, you never really specified where you wanted me to sprinkle the flour in, so I was a bit confused."

"Oh yeah?" Mara said mischievously "Well, then I think you missed a spot."

"Really? Where?"

"Right, there!" She answered, hurling the flour back at him.

Mick blinked. "Why you!"

Soon they were both caught up in a flour war. Mara laughed, ducking under the counter as Mick lunged for her; armed with flour. It was nice. Laughing again, enjoying herself. How long had it really been? Since she had fun? Laughter seemed foreign to her. Foreign yet familiar, like a long forgotten memory. It felt...relaxing.

Mick grabbed her leg. "Gotcha!" He exclaimed pulling her out from under the counter and covering her with flour. "I win."

"Noooooo!" Mara said dramatically "I have been captured by the flour king! Now I have to spent rest of my days slaving away making pizza and cookies!"

"My, my, what have we here?" A voice called out, interrupting them "two ex lovers rolling around on the kitchen floor. How lovely."

Mara froze. She knew that voice. She had forgotten that Jerome was even in the house. Pushing Mick off of her, Mara quickly scrambled up and ran a hand through her now white hair. She met Jerome's icy glare.

"We were just cooking." She said meekly, trying to dust the flour off her clothes "Nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, mate," Mick said backing her up "Wanna help?"

"Oh really?" Jerome said, uncrossing his arms and walking into the kitchen "Could have fooled me." He swiped a finger across Mara's cheek , rubbing the flour between his thumb and index finger "Look's more like you're the main course."

She took a step back. "We got a little distracted..."

"I'll say. But who am I to comment on your foreplay. Please, do continue rolling around on the floor like sex crazed animals. I thought you were better than that Mara, guess I was wrong."

Mara cringed at his words. He had basically called her slut. And it stung. Bad.

"Back off, Clarke." Mick hissed, seeing Mara's expression "She didn't do anything wrong."

Jerome gave a scornful laugh. "Oh, that's rich. The guy who crushed her is _defending_ her. Tell me Mick, how's Amber doing?" His cold eyes were on her, seeing through her walls.

No, stop it. The memories were coming back up up. "Stop it," She whispered out, barley audible, backing up to the counter "Jerome, stop it, please." She squeezed the first thing she felt on the counter behind her.

"Amber has nothing to do with this, leave her out of it." Mick growled, glaring at Jerome "And what are you talking about?"

"Oh? Doesn't this conversation seem familiar, eh Mara?" Jerome taunted, turning to her "Like the one we had on Saturday? Except as I recall, _you _defended him and now he's defending Amber. How quaint."

"What is he talking about Mara?" Mick asked "What conversation?"

She squeezed the object harder, feeling a faint pain in her palm. "Nothing, Mick. It was nothing."

"Of course it was nothing. Why are you so afraid of telling him, Mara? Or are you still scared that what happened with _him_ will repeat again?" Jerome asked "Answer me, Mara."

"What are you talking about?" Mick asked looking between the two of them "Are you talking about the break up? It happened four months ago. Shes over it."

Jerome's eyes snapped at Mick's direction. "Really Mick? She's over it? Look at her! Just look. Does she look fine to you? How _fucking_ stupid can you be?"

Mara flinched at his tone. "It's ok, Jerome. I'm fine with it. Please, just stop."

Jerome was quiet for a moment. "You never told him, did you?" He whispered "You never told him what that day was, did you, Mara?"

Mara squeezed the object harder. The flashbacks were coming back faster.

_She stopped, shock flooding her whole body. "A mistake?" She whispered out, her body going numb._

"_Yes, Mara A mistake. I don't know why we even dated! You're always asking me questions and always being so difficult! Can't you try to be less clingy? It was just a stupid date that I missed, no big deal!"_

She squeezed harder, a throbbing pain began to hammer in her palm. _"So that's how you think of me? Clingy and difficult?"_

"_That's not it. We're not compatible. I can't have you always hounding me about pointless dates and Amber when I have actual important things to do."_

"_You always have important things to do Mick! I only asked for this one date, just today. That's all I asked for, why couldn't you have done it for me?"_

"_Mara, we can reschedule. "Mick sighed "I told you-"_

"_No we can't! It was special, Mick, really special." She whimpered "I made reservations and everything. One day, Mick, I just wanted one day with you, was that too much to ask?"_

"_Oh, quit being so dramatic, Mara. You make it sound like I'm never around."_

"_That's because you never are!" She yelled "You're always busy with sports, or mates, or Amber!"_

"_Here we go again, bringing Amber up again. I don't see you breaking your back into spending any time with me. You and all your extra curricular activities."_

"_I do! I'm sorry if I have advance classes, but I try to finish all my work so I can spend time with you? Do you know how hard I tried to get this day free? I had to miss my Yale scholarship meeting. Yale! And you couldn't miss one event?"_

"_I'm sorry!" Mick boomed "I never asked you to miss your Yale meeting. Nor did I stop you from going, don't put the blame on me Mara. I'm sick and tired of always having to bare the blame."_

"What are you talking about, Jerome?" she heard Mick ask "What day?" She squeezed harder.

"You bloody fool." Jerome growled "You stupid, imbecilic twit. You still don't know do you?"

"_I never blame you." Mara protested._

"_Yes you do! And I'm sick of it, Mara."_

"_Are you, are you breaking up with me?" She could feel the tears slowly trail down her cheeks._

"_Yes Mara, I am. Your just too different from me. Sure you knew your sports well, but let's face it. Your book smart, quiet, and naive. Not right for me."_

_She swallowed. "I'm boring?"_

"_No, not always. But at times yes. We are not right for each other. Sorry Mara." Mick said, walking away to his room._

"_Wait," She called out to him "don't you wanna know why today was so special to me?"_

_He half turned her way. "Why? Probably because you won another award or got into another school right? It's all the same. Good night, Mara." And he walked away._

"_No," Mara whispered through her trembling tears. Pain. Her heart was in pain. "No, mick that wasn't it." She called out to the darkness._

"Shut up Jerome! Don't you call me a fool when you're the coldhearted bastard."

"Really? I think we can debate on that, right Mara?" He turned toward her and his eyes widened in alarm "Mara! Your hand. What the hell did you do? You're bleeding!"

Mara started down at her right hand numbly. Blood slowly oozed out from her palm, painting the knife she held a bright crimson. She started at it, not breathing, not blinking. Stared as the blood silently pooled on the counter, soaking the white flour red.

Then suddenly the knife was ripped out of her hand and she was yanked roughly to the sink. Jerome's hand held her own blood soaked one under the cold tap water. She could hear him swear, telling her that she might need stitches and how inattentive could she be.

She ignored him, ignored the pain and turned toward the frozen Mick. She shook her head at him.

"No, you never got it, did you?" She whispered, remembering the last of her memory.

"_It was my birthday..."_

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, thank you for all the wonderful reviews! This chapter goes out to TrinityFlower of Memories. Seriously, without her constant encouragement, I'd still be whining about how to start of this chapter. I hope you like and PLEASE review. I really want to hear all your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. This chapter is much shorter than the last, but I hope you will still love it. Enjoy!**

"Honestly Mara, why are you so dead set on hurting yourself?" Jerome asked, tightening the bandage around her right hand "Wasn't emotional pain enough, that you had to go around cutting yourself too?" They were both in the dinning room; Mara sitting in a chair and Jerome crouching in front of her.

"Funny," She said dryly "coming from the guy who loathes himself."

Jerome gave the bandage one final secure tug and stood up. "Mara, I don't loath myself. I think, that perhaps the lack of blood has caused you to become delusional."

"Sure," she answered carelessly, getting up and not bothering to rise to his bait "that's it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to cooking."

She tried to get past him but he wouldn't budge. "What do you mean 'get back to cooking'? How are you going to cook with a banged up hand, Mara? Or are you planning on using your feet to kneed the dough?"

Mara gave him a dull stare. "Of course I'm using my feet, Jerome. It's all the rave nowadays. Now, please get out of my way."

"What if I refuse? Then what? You'll bore me to death by reciting the periodic table?" He mocked, crossing his arms and standing firm.

Mara sighed. "I find it sad that you resort to nerd jokes to get a rise out of me, Jerome. That just shows how unoriginal and desperate you really are."

"Desperate? And what exactly am I desperate for, Mara?" he asked coolly "Please do tell."

She shrugged. "That's the question. Clearly not for me, I hope. Because since I have already rejected you, that would be a poor effort on your part." She paused, her eyes slowly traveling to meet his own "sad, useless and pathetic."

It was a low blow, Mara knew. She could see it on his face...she could see it in his eyes. The tiny flicker of hurt that passed through them, a sliver of emotion, before they turned into a lifeless dull blue. It was a low blow, but she had enough. She was in no mood to play anymore of his petty games. It was time to do damage control.

"Are you done?" he asked her rigidly "Or do you have anything else to add to my 'sad, desperate, and useless' attempt to help you?"

Mara shrugged and brushed past him. "I never asked for your help, Jerome, nor did I want it. Just stop trying to interfere in my life and leave me alone."

She had only gotten three steps ahead, when called out. "At least confront him, Mara. I know Mick hurt you but-"

That did it. "Mick hurt me?" Mara exploded, whipping around to face him "_Mick_ hurt me? No Jerome, _Mick _didn't do anything. Mick didn't cause me to cut myself, you did!"

"How can you say that? It was that bastard's fault-"

"Don't call him that." She snapped.

"It was his fault that you have such bad memories, Mara, not mine. I didn't give them to you nor did I cause them. I'd never do that to you."

"Oh, wouldn't you?" she said bitterly "No, Jerome, you didn't give me those memories, but you were the one who brought them back up. Even when I told you to stop it, even when I _begged_ you to shut your mouth, but you still kept at it. And what was the result? This" She shook her right hand at him "Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted? Why are you trying to destroy my last amount of peace, Jerome?"

"Mara? What's going on?" Mick asked, coming out of the kitchen "I heard yelling. Are you alright?"

"Get lost, Campbell," Jerome hissed "this has nothing to do with you. Actually wait, you're the fucking root cause of all of it. So you should stay and listen to all the shit you caused."

"No, Mick," Mara interrupted, eyes never leaving Jerome "it has nothing to with you. So please, go back to the kitchen. I'll be there soon."

"Alright..." Mick said reluctantly, heading back to the kitchen and shooting her a worried look "Call me if anything."

"Oh, she will," Jerome spat out "she always goes running back to poor, sweet, popular Mick. No matter how fucked up he is to her. Right Mara? Wouldn't you just _love _to screw around with him?"

"Clarke, shut your filthy mouth up." Mick growled, turning back around.

"Or what, huh? You'll strangle me with your pink apron? Why don't you go back to that blonde bimbo of a girlfriend of yours and leave Mara the fuck alone."

"What did you call Amber," Mick snarled, taking a threatening step towards Jerome "I dare you to say it."

"Oh? My fault, did I say blonde bimbo? I meant slut." Jerome jeered.

"That's it!" Mick cried, lunging for him, but Mara caught his arm before he could "Let me at him, Mara. Let go."

"No, Mick," she said, standing in front of him and trying to push him back "he's just trying to rile you up. He's not worth it. Calm down."

Jerome laughed humorlessly. "Yes, I'm not worth it. But apparently the useless waste of space is. How ironic is life."

"Just, go." Mara whispered , pushing Mick toward the kitchen "I'll handle it."

"But-"

"Mick, just _go_."

"Fine, but if he says anything to you, I swear I will-"

"Yes, yes, use your fists like all hot-blooded neanderthalic males do." Jerome said dismissively "Now run along, little boy, the grown ups are talking."

Mara saw Mick's eyes flash, but he left none the less, leaving just her and Jerome. She glared at him.

"What the hell is your problem? Why must you go around stirring up trouble? Don't you have a life?"

"Oh, I have a life, little Mara, it's yours that concerns me." His eyes glittered dangerously "Now where were we? Oh that's right, me robbing you of your 'peace'. Which is a joke, because you have none."

"I did have some, until you came along and messed it up. Why can't you just leave me be!"

"Because, you're pathetic."

The way he said that made her blood run cold. "Excuse me? How am I pathetic?"

"Yes Mara, _you're _the pathetic one, not me. You make me sick." Jerome said flatly "You're a coward. You can't even face the root of your problems. It's repulsing."

"I-I repulse you?" She asked, pain slowly building in her chest.

"Yes, you do. The you now is a whiny, dramatic, over sensitive, little brat. 'My boyfriend broke up with me and I have no one.' That trick is getting old Mara. Get to the blasted root of the bloody problem. And that stupid thought that you have no friends? It's you're fault. Did you even put any effort into patching things up with them? No, so this sad lonely act of 'woe is me, I have no one ' is getting very old. Get you're life back on track or stop being so insecure. You're an eyesore."

His words stung. Every single word was like a sharp jab in her chest. It hurt, it hurt so bad. She repulsed him, she was an eyesore. She was pathetic. And all those words, those _lies _about loving her were all just to poke fun at her? She really was a fool. A doll that he could play around with. She felt numb. A toy. That's what she was to him. A toy.

"Vicious," She whispered, staring at the floor "cruel, heartless. That's what you are, Jerome."

"What?"

She looked numbly at him. "Manipulative, lying, toying," a tear slipped down her cheek "unfeeling, sadistic person. That's what you are."

Jerome gave her a blank look, just watching her, not saying a word. She brushed away the tear and looked straight at him.

"You toss words out carelessly, Jerome, not ever really caring about who they might hurt. You get a satisfying feeling from manipulating others, from seeing them break down before you. You want to feel superior. You don't think I've noticed? You don't care much about anyone else, they are your toys, something to pass the time with." She took a step back away from him, then, another.

"That's the difference between you and me. I might be pathetic, but you're pitiful. I might be an eyesore, but you're a disease. I might be over sensitive, but your cold. I might be insecure, but you have trust issues. The only thing we have in common are our walls." She took another step back.

"But the thing is, Jerome. I have my family to help me break down my walls, who do you have?" She saw him visibly stiffen, a direct hit. She took another step back.

"I have love to back me up, Jerome, what do you have? Through all your games, through all your lies, what do you have? I have a place where I can retreat to, Jerome, you are alone." With that she took another step back, slipping out of the room and into the empty corridor.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ello my duckies! Sorry for the late update, I was busy and was in a bit of a jam. BUT to make it yup to all of you, I've made this chapter extra long. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, it really makes me happy to hear from all of you. I hope you love this chapter, and although some of you might not like it, it was necessary. PLEASE don't forget to give feedback and and review. I really want to hear all your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Thank you and enjoy!**

The white Pomeranian bounced up and down excitedly, wagging it's tiny tail and yapping away at a very annoyed looking Great Dane. Mara watched in amusement as the little puffball nicked the larger dog's tail playfully, ran away as soon as the Dane let out a growl, and repeated the process. She had to give it to him though, that Pomeranian had spunk. Not many people, let alone dogs, could take on someone ten times their size. She giggled once more as the Great Dane tried to run away from the frisky cotton ball. It really was a funny sight.

Closing her eyes, Mara felt the cool April breeze brush past her face and breathed in the fresh scent of pine wood. The park was as welcoming as ever and after the whole Jerome ordeal, she had found herself absentmindedly walking right to it. The park was the one place where she could peacefully sort out her problems and troubles without anyone bothering her, and right now, there was a lot on her mind.

Mara sighed and looked up. Sunlight dipped through the shaded trees, illuminating the leaves a bright green and sparkling flecks of gold everywhere. It was mesmerizing. It reminded her of her long forgotten childhood memories.

When time seemed endless and everyday was hazy with laughter. Where the most important decision in life was whether you wanted to be the fair prinncess, waiting to be rescued by your prince or a fierce warrior who battled dragons and made her own rules. Where love was easy. Where pain was nonexisent.

She swallowed as a dull aching feeling slowly begun to drum in her chest. A bittersweet longing, a taste of the past. She missed that. Those blissful days, when life was simpler. When she didn't have to put up fake smiles and be criticize for who she was. When she had people who truly cared about her. When she was really happy...

A sudden jerk at her leg abruptly broke Mara out of her thoughts. Startled, she looked down and found the tiny Pomeranian tugging vigorously away at the end of her pants. She blinked. What? Why was he or she, here?

Looking around, Mara spotted the Great Dane playing with it's owner. Oh, that's why. She looked down at the pooch again. He was still trying to take a bite out of her jeans. Her _new_ jeans. She tried to shake him off.

"Hey there, umm" she said the first thing that came to her head "Pomie. Nice doggie. Please leg go of my jeans. Good boy, now let go. Let go." The dog only snorted in response and tugged even harder if possible.

After five minutes of trying to shake the miniscule menace off her leg, Mara gave up. That darn dog wouldn't budge. She sighed again and pinched the bridge of her nose. Today was not turning out to be a good day. First the fight with Jerome and now the dog. The only good thing about today was the cooking session with Mick-.

He eyes widened. Mick! Oh god, she had totally forgotten about him. What time was it? Probably way past twelve. She felt horrible. The poor boy was left all alone to clean the mess they'd made _and_ cook. She had to get back. Maybe if she hurried, she could help out with something. But first, she had to get the dog off of her.

"Ok, poochi," Mara said standing up "it's time to let go. If not, I'm dragging you with me all the way to Anubis." She hopped on one leg, trying to shake it off. "Oh, come on! Let go you stupid dog!"

"Mr. Fluffy-kins! What are you doing to my poor baby?"

Mara stopped hopping and look up to see a fairly large woman in a light pink suit marching her way. And she looked furious. Her face was so scrunched up, that it made her seem like a chihuahua, ironically. She stood in front of Mara, eyes narrowed and lips pursed.

"Well?" the woman demanded "what have you to say for yourself?"

Mara pointed to the dog attached to her leg. "Um, he won't let go. I tried to get him to let go, but he refused."

The woman's features turned to shock, than embarrassed. "Oh my goodness, I do apologize for my rash behavior. I tend to be a bit over protective of him. He really is precious and little. And has a bit of a temper, don't you sweetie?"

The Pomeranian _finally _let go and barked happily up at his owner. Mara let out a sigh of relief. Now she could head back to the house.

"Yes, he is really cute. But I really need to go. I'm late for something." Mara rushing, hoping to make a quick get away, but alas, no such luck.

"Oh, so sorry for that, but I think he likes you. Do you want to dog sit him for me?"

Mara blinked. "Um, I really don't think that will work out, Ma'am-"

"I'll pay you. I know you youngsters need all the cash you can get and it's rare for my baby to actually like someone besides me."

"With all do respect, I already have a Job." Mara said a bit impatiently "And I also have school, so it's impossible for me to look after your dog."

The woman scooped up her dog, and gave Mara a head to toe look. "And do you perhaps work at a restaurant?"

"I work at a Cafe. The Java Bean."

"Well, from the looks of it, their employes can't cook right."

Mara gave her a surprised look. "Excuse me?"

The woman motioned to her attire. "Your covered in flour, dear. What happened?"

"Oh." Mara felt herself flush. She forgot that she still had bits of flour in her hair and clothes. "This was not at work. I had a mishap happen back at my house."

"Oh, but still. Will you reconsider dog sitting?"

This woman was relentless. "But I have-"

"I'll double your wages." She broke in.

"That's flattering but-" Mara started.

"I'll triple it." She cut in.

"I-" That was a lot of money, but Mara still had a ton of work. "I have to go now. But I'll think about your offer, Ma'am."

"Excellent!" The woman boomed and pulled out a business card from her pink purse. "My card. Please feel free to call. I would love it if you could do it on the weekends."

Mara took the card. Margret Donna. "Thank you, Ms. Donna. Ill think about it." With that, Mara promptly jogged off before the Ms. Donna could stop her for something else.

* * *

When Mara skidded into the kitchen, Mick was taking the last of the cookies out of the oven. He gave her a half smile when she saw her huffing by the door.

"Hey, Mars, why are you all out of breath?"

"Mick!" Mara wheezed, trying to catch her breath "I-I am so sorry. I lost track of time. W-with the f-fight and then a tiny dog chewed up my p-pants and then a lady in a p-pink suit and and..."

"Mara!" Mick said, placing the try of cookies on the counter and coming over to her "it's alright. Here, sit down first. I'll get you a glass of water."

She nodded and plopped down on the near by stool. She watched as Mick got a glass from the dishwasher, opened the fridge, and pulled out the pitcher of water. Her eyes wandered to the counter. Four trays of freshly baked cookies sat upon it, two chocolate chip from what she could tell, and they other two, oatmeal and raisin?

"Mick," she asked when he brought her the glass of water "how many cookies did you bake? Thank you."

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I guess I got a bit carried away. I mean, we did make too much batter so I improvised."

"Oh? And what about the pizza? Did you make that too or can I still help chef Campbell whip another master piece up?" She teased.

"Actually, I already started on kneading and flatting the dough, and you can't do that um, because of the whole knife thing." Mick motioned to her bandaged hand "but you can always chop the tomatoes and vegetables if you can manage while I finish up."

Mara nodded and got up. "Sure no problem. Let me wash up and I'll get right on it. By the way, can I steal an oatmeal cookie, if you don't mind? I'm starving!"

Mick nodded. "Sure, but um, it's my first time actually making them. So don't laugh if they're not good, Mars."

Mara laughed and wiped her hands on the towel. "Fine, fine, but I'm not making any promises. I take my cookies very seriously. Here we go." She picked up a hot oatmeal cookie, blew on it, and took a bite. She chewed.

"Oh my god, Mick, its delicious!" She muffled out, surprised at how good it really was "No joke. How on earth did you manage to make this? And on your first time? I don't believe it!"

She could see him blush, it reached the tips of his ears. It was adorable. "Aw, thanks Mara," he mumbled out, still plainly embarrassed at the compliment "I don't really know. It just happened."

"God, where was your awesome skills four months back? I could have used this during my all nighters."

"Well, I guess they were still hidden then." Mick smiled "But I guess some cookies would have helped when you were studying for that Chemistry midterm last semester. You looked so tired that everyone thought you'd fall asleep during the exam. How you managed to make an A is still a mystery."

Mara wrinkled her nose and picked up the knife. "Don't remind me. It was horrible." She began to chop the tomatoes, glad for the happy atmosphere in the kitchen.

"I bet." Mick answered, then after a moment asked "So the fight with Jerome. Did everything go ok? I mean you ran out, so I'm guessing no. And what did he mean it was all my fault?"

The happy atmosphere dimmed and her grip on the knife tightened. "Yeah, everything went fine. Don't listen to him. He was just rambling on about nothing."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Mick," Mara stated looking up at him "Please, don't start."

Seeing the dark look on her face, he nodded and went back to the dough. They fell into a silence, only the sounds of kitchen work were heard. Suddenly, Jerome's words floated in back in her head. _Get to the blasted root of the bloody problem. _

Mara sucked in a breath. Maybe he was right, maybe she really did need to go to the root of her problem. She closed her eyes. It was now or never.

"Mick," she asked, her voice low "what happened to us?" She could hear him stop working but she didn't dare turn around. "What do you mean." he asked quietly, but she knew he knew.

"What happened to us. What went wrong?"

She heard him sigh. "I don't know Mara, I don't. It was all going perfectly, but then, I don't know."

"When did it start to go down the hill?" Mara asked, putting down the knife and turning to face him "This, what we're doing now, why couldn't it just be like that. Before the fights started, before we just got tired. I miss it. And I can't figure out when it all got messed up, Mick."

He gave her a sad smile. "Neither can I. I guess when we both got busy, we just sorta drifted apart. We just didn't have time for one another."

"Or maybe we just got past the honeymoon phase." She said, making him give her a questioning look "Maybe we were never meant to be and third time was the charm." She gave him a wry smile "We clashed Mick, we didn't work. You never had time for me and as hard as I tried, I was never good enough." Her voice quivered at the end.

Mick turned fully toward her, his brows furred in confusion. "What do you mean 'wasn't good enough', Mara? Why would you ever think that?"

"Because, I was no Amber!" Mara cried out, remembering how he and Amber would laugh together while she sat there, watched, and pretended that she was ok with them. Remembered how he would comfort her with soothing words and soft touches and warm hugs, while she stood there and wished to be in Amber's place. Remembered that whenever Amber called to him, he would drop everything and go to her, while she had to practically force him to spend any amount of time with her. No it wasn't the same. She was no Amber, she could never take her place. "Because I was no Amber."

"Of course you weren't her, Mara, you both were very different, still are. There was no comparison. I liked you both the same."

Mara shook her head. "No Mick, you don't understand. You might have like us both, but you always put her first. It was always Amber than me, Mick, and it hurt!"

"I never put her first-" He started but she cut him off.

"Yes you did did. You would drop everything, _everything_, when she had a problem and with me, you couldn't even get a lousy night off. What do you call that Mick? Huh?" She was getting angry. She would finally spill all her feelings today, and no one would stop her.

Mick's jaw tightened. "Mara, she was my friend. I hope you would understand that. Why are you still bringing this up? There was nothing going on between us."

"I wished you'd stop saying that too. I never said there was anything going on between the two of you." Mara exasperated "I'm just pointing out the fact that you picked your female _friend _over spending time with your _girlfriend_. That was the problem. You picked her over me, always. I know you didn't mean too, but you did."

"What? No I didn't. Sure I spent time with Amber, but she needed my help. Why were you always jealous? It wasn't like I was cheating on you." Mick snapped "I hated knowing that my own girlfriend, didn't trust me."

"Well, what else was I suppose to feel?" Mara exploded, throwing her hands up "if my boyfriend was spending time with his ex girlfriend more than me? How would you feel if I spend time with another boy?"

He was quiet for a moment. "It wasn't just that, Mara. I felt that I wasn't up to your standards. That I wasn't smart enough."

This time it was Mara who gave him a quizzical look. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, that when I saw you with your advance classes and the people you hung out with, I felt that I was an outsider. So I.." He looked away.

"So you avoided me." Mara stated flatly "And spent time with Amber, hurting me even more."

His head snapped up. "I never meant to hurt you, Mara, and spending time with Amber was not on purpose. It just felt easier with Amber, like she could accept me for myself."

"And you think I wouldn't?" Mara asked horrified "I never judged you based on your grades Mick, I genuinely liked you. But I guess my affection wasn't enough, was it?"

"No!" Mick exclaimed, frustrated "It was never like that Mara. I cared about you, a lot. I did. And with Amber it was the same. I never chose either one of you over another, so I-I don't know what you mean."

Mara was quiet for a moment. "Mick, when is Amber's birthday?"

"What? June 25th. Why are you asking?" He asked, confused.

"Mick," she asked softly "when is my birthday?"

He froze for a second then answered "December 15th."

Mara shook her head. "Wrong. Its December 28th. Do you see now what I mean? You know Amber's birthday, but failed to remember mine. And I also was your girlfriend."

His brows furrowed again. "That doesn't make sense. We all celebrated your birthday last year on December 15th. I remember it clearly."

She shook her head. "It was an early birthday celebration because everyone would be leaving for Christmas and some wouldn't be back until the first week of January. It wasn't my actual date. My actual date was when..." She trailed off. It was when we broke up.

A sudden realization lit Mick's face. "It was when, It was when we broke up, wasn't it?" He whispered, shock etching in his features.

Mara nodded numbly. Finally. He finally knew what that day was. Maybe now he'd know how much his words hurt her that day. How much his actions did.

"Oh god, Mara, I'm so sorry. I was such an arse to you that day." He stepped forward and grasped Mara's left hand in between his own. "And you even skipped your Yale meeting for our date, and I blew you off. In truth, I wanted to apologize to you for what I did the very next day. All those mean things I said, I didn't mean half of them. I guess I was just tired and angry and really wanted to say sorry, but just didn't know how." He looked into her eyes "I'm sorry Mara, for everything. For hurting you, for forgetting your birthday, for the Amber thing, I'm really sorry. Will you forgive me?"

She stared at him. He was telling the truth, she could tell by the look in his eyes. Those deep blue, sincere eyes that wanted nothing more than her forgiveness. She smiled. He really was sweet. She squeezed his hand.

"I forgive you, Mick." Mara smiled "And I am also sorry for how I acted. For being jealous and making you feel uncomfortable. Friends?" As soon as she said that, Mara felt a a tight knot unwind in her chest. She could breathe again, like a heavy weight had just been lifted off of her. It felt good. Really good.

Mick smiled. "Friends."

The both grinned at each other, until..."Ok, we should really get back too cooking. Unless you want six hungry teenagers turning the kitchen upside down." Mara joked.

Mick nodded and went back to his pizza station. "You're right, Mars, I can just see Alfie throwing food everywhere."

"Oh, Amber won't like that one bit," She commented, chopping up her third tomato "especially when she just came back from shopping and getting her hair done."

"Nahh, I don't think so. Amber has a soft side for Alfie, since they are going out and all."

Mara nearly dropped the knife. "What?" she exclaimed, whipping around to face Mick "Amber's going out with _Alfie? _Are you serious?"

Mick gave her a puzzled look. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Why? Is it really that surprising?"

"Yes! I thought Alfie was going out with Patricia and Amber was going out with you."

His eyes widened. "What? No! I'm not going out with Amber. I'm not going out with anyone. Why would you think that?"

Jerome she thought, rolling her eyes. But if she thought about it, it really was funny. Her being jealous over Mick dating Amber who, in fact was dating Alfie who wasn't dating Patricia, who would kill her for even suggesting that she date Alfie. It really was hilarious. Mara burst out laughing.

"What?" Mick asked, giving her one of his adorable confused faces, which caused her to laugh harder. "Why are you laughing?"

"B-because," Mara choked out between laughs "it's so funny, all of it! Alfie and Amber? Patricia and Alfie? You? The whole mishap is too funny!"

"I guess, " Mick said laughing "Yeah, it really is."

"Oh yum!" A voice called out from the kitchen entrance "Cookies! Are you guys making pizza? Please don't add a lot of cheese, I want to be able to fit into my new clothes."

They both turned to find Amber standing there, holding a ton of colorful bangs and eyeing the cookies. " What flavor did you guys make?"

"Actually,-" Mara began, but was cut off when Alfie jogged up next to Amber, holding the same number of bags and wearing a...suit? What?

"Amber," He said, lifting up the shopping bags "I don't think I need this many clothes and- ooo cookies!" He reached for one, only to be stopped by Amber.

"Alfie," she scolded, reaching up and fixing his bow tie "look, your tie is crooked." Making Mick and Mara burst into another fit of laughter.

* * *

The rest of the day went surprisingly well. After the whole heart to heart with Mick and Alfie and Amber's random dropping in, all four of them worked together to finish making the pizza (they actually ended up making three, due to Alfie's protest that two would not be enough to fulfill 'man's hunger') and even made a fruit salad (Amber's decision to 'balance out' all the unhealthy intake of food).

Then after that, when the rest of the lot arrived from their little trip downtown, everyone had a wonderful meal; even Trudy joined in and they gave Victor a slice. It was a wonderful meal, that for once, did not result in a food fight. Maybe Alfie dating Amber wasn't such a bad thing after all. It certainly made him have manners.

Finally the day ended with a movie night. Now that did have a food fight, well more like a popcorn toss up. Everybody joined in, even Nina and Fabian. But the best part of the day was that Jerome didn't bother her, at all. Sure he was around, but for the most part, Mara ignored him. She was still high on the warm fuzzy feeling inside her chest and she wasn't going to let Jerome or anyone else for that matter, ruin it.

* * *

Sunday was fairly calm too. It wasn't as fun, since everyone had a ton of home work to do, but it wasn't bad either. Since Mara, as usual, had finished her work the day before, she offered to help the girls with theirs. Which then resulted in a pillow fight, or as Mara liked to call it, a demonstration on how force affects an object. Needless to say, that it took longer to get the work done.

By the time dinner rolled around, she still hadn't seen any signs of Jerome. And it made her feel a bit guilty. Sure he said some harsh things that hurt her deeply, but she had also returned the favor back. Except...she had crossed the line. That parent comment was really uncalled for, and the more she thought about it, the more awful she felt. Maybe she should apologize to him, but...she didn't know. Maybe, she was just a bit uneasy about facing him. After all, he had lied to her about liking her, kissed her, and called her pathetic, whiny, over sensitive, little brat. Oh, and also an eyesore.

Even thinking back on what he said, made her insides feel cold. She really shouldn't apologize, that was what the logical thing to do was and probably what the majority of people would say. If he didn't apologize to her, why should she, right? He had hurt her so deeply, but... But there was something...something inside her, nagging her, guilting her into going up to him and apologize for crossing that invisible line. She sighed and plopped her head down on the dining table. Was was her conscience so strong? Sometimes she hated it.

"Mara," Trudy's voice called her back to the present "What's wrong, dear?"

"Nothing," Mara mumbled out, not bothering to pick up her head "I'm just having a fight with my conscience."

"Oh, cool. A one person chick fight." She heard Alfie say "This will be intrest-OW! Geez Amber, I was joking! No need to get violent!"

Mara suppressed a giggle. As much as she hated to admit it, Alfie and Amber were a cute couple, all jokes aside. She heard Trudy call out her name again. She lifted her head to look back at the house mother.

"Yes, Trudy?"

"I was asking if you can go and get Jerome for me. It's almost dinner time and everybody's almost here."

"Oh." Why was it her who always ended up playing pick up for Jerome?

As if reading her mind, Alfie said "Sorry, Mars, I'd go get lover boy, but as you can see, Amber and I have Dinner duty and the rest of the lot are MIA at the moment. Sooo, you're all that we've got. And I think Jerome might like it if you got him." He smirked.

Mara rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt it," she muttered under her breath, but got up none the less. "I'll go get him. Where is is anyways? Up in his room?"

"I think he's out in the front." Trudy answered, taking a platter out of the microwave "I saw him leave a few minutes ago."

Mara blinked. Outside? What the heck would he be doing out side at eight at night? Especially since the temperature was below 10 degrees? Boys were such weirdos. Sighing and debating against not taking her jacket (she was only going to be outside for less than two minutes anyway), Mara went outside.

As soon as she opened the front door, the cold air hit her full blast. She could feel the goosebumps already start to rise on her bare arms. Shivering, Mara stepped out and peered around for any signs of Jerome. She spotted the said boy sitting on the stone fence, staring up at the sky. She was surprised to find that he only wore a thin shirt.

She watched as the wind played with his hair and ruffled his shirt, giving him an eerie illusion of an eighteenth century washed out painting. She walked toward him, the gravel crunching steadily beneath her feet. When she was a foot away from him, Mara called out.

"Trudy, wants you inside for dinner."

If he was surprised at her arrival, he didn't show it. Instead, he turned his head toward her, gave a brisk nod, and turned back at looking at the sky. Mara stood there, watching him. After a couple of minutes he spoke.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to stare? Why are you still here? Did Trudy want anything else, if not, just leave."

"Why did you kiss me?" Mara suddenly asked, surprising herself. Where did that come from? But it was too late to take it back.

Jerome looked at her, the darkening sky made his eyes look like a pools of sapphire. "Is that why your still here, Mara? Still trying to wrap your brain why I did what I did? Well, don't you worry. There were no feeling behind that kiss. I just wanted to see how the perfect little Mara would respond to kissing someone other than her beloved Mick," He licked his lips and gave her a chilling smile "Not bad, little Mara, not bad at all."

Mara didn't falter. "And all that nonsense of saying you loved me, was that too part of your game?"

"But of course. What did you think, that I actually meant all that? That I actually _loved _you? Please Mara, I thought you were smarter than that." He tugged the collar of his shirt "Is that all, or do you have something else to ask?"

Mara clenched her fist and stood her ground. She wasn't going to let him get to her. "Actually, there was something else I wanted to say." She took a deep breath "I wanted to apologize."

That caught his attention. "Oh?" he mused, quirking an eyebrow "Well this is interesting. Can't say that I'm surprised, knowing you." He turned back to the sky and closed his eyes "Well, get on with it. Are you going apologize for calling me cruel, heartless, manipu-"

"No I'm not." Mara in cut in, taking a step toward him. The wind rushed past her, whipping her hair back. "I'm not sorry for saying those things to you, Jerome. I meant ever single word I said. You are cold, you are cruel, and your ego needs to be knocked a peg down if you think I'm going to stand here and say sorry for telling you the truth."

He glanced back at her. She could see that he was a bit surprised by her words from the slight flicker of shock that passed through his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came. He smirked.

"Oh really? If not that, then what are you here to apologize for?"

Mara held his gaze. "I wanted to apologize about the family comment I made. It was out of line."

She watched as his expression darkened a bit, but he smiled despite that. "Oh please, it didn't mean that much to me anyways. You were angry, it was nothing."

"Your lying." she stated flatly "I can tell that comment hit a sore spot, Jerome. Don't tell me it didn't. I saw it. And it's not 'nothing'. No matter how mad I was, that was out of line. It was something personal. And I had no right to bring it up." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, shivering from the cold "I'm sorry Jerome," Mara said sincerely "I'm really sorry for saying that."

There was instant silence. Both just stared at one another, neither speaking. Then finally, after what seemed like an eternity Jerome broke the silence.

"I hope you don't expect me to apologize for what I said to you, Mara" Jerome said quietly "Because unlike you, I don't have a guilty conscience holding me down."

Mara released a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "I know. I wasn't expecting an apology back anyways. I just came here to say that I was out of line." She turned to leave "Oh, and you were right. I did get to 'the root' of my problem. I talked with Mick and we made up. So thank you for that push that I needed." She smiled "And on that final note, you should also get back inside. It's freezing out here. You might catch a cold." With that, Mara slowly started to walk back to the house.

Mara was nearly at the house when a pair of arms wrapped suddenly around her and yanked her back into a warm body. She let out a surprised squeak before realizing that it was Jerome who was hugging her. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest and warm tingles exploded through her. What was going on? Why was he hugging her?

"So stupid," She heard him whisper "Your so stupid, Mara. I play with your feelings, you apologize. I hurt you, you thank me. I tell you that I'm not sorry for anything I did, and you tell me that I'll catch a cold if I don't go inside. What am I going to do with you?" His arms tightened around even more and he buried his face in the nook of her neck. "What am I going to do with you?"

They both stood still, under the cold night sky, under the blinking stars, they stood unmoving.

Mara closed her eyes and slowly breathed out. "I don't know," she uttered into the silence "I don't know..."

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry for the super late update, but I had a valid excuse, and no, it was not writers block lol. My Laptop was broken and I just got it back like three days ago. So yeah, to make up for my long delay, I made this chapter super long and yummy, especially at the end ^^ So don't forget to review and PLEASE tell me all your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. I really LOVE hearing what you all have to say. So please review. Thank you and enjoy!**

"Today we will be discussing the String theory." Mr. Jillian said, scribbling away on the black board "Now, does anyone know what that is?"

As soon as the words had left his lips, Mara watched a dozen hands shoot up in the air, all waving eagerly to be picked. She sighed and turned away, choosing to stare out the window instead of watching which of of the many brilliant students got his or her chance of answering the teacher's question and getting two seconds of fame. Of course she also knew the answers, who didn't? It was a very common phenomenon that even an average bystander would know. Sure, the bystander wouldn't know the exact complications and the mechanics that are put into it by the many people who, sad to say, have virtually _no_ lives and sit around theorizing every and anything, but he would know the gist of it. The theory of everything. That was the cookie cutter definition of it.

That being said, she had no urge to leap out of her seat like a rabid monkey, just up one on her classmates. C'mon, they were all out of the norm smart students ,(why else would they be in ADVANCE Physics?) so really, what was the point? As far as Mara was concerned, guys were just over competitive lugs. The need to out testosterone each other, even in science, was just plain pathetic. But then again, nerds had hearts too. And if you can't excel in all things manly like the rest of the population, shine in what you can. Maybe it was a feeble attempt to impress the three girls (including herself) in class. Which so far, was not going well. They too, like her, were all zoned out.

Mara propped her chin on her hand and continued to stare aimlessly out the window. It was a nice day out. She could feel the faint breeze blowing in from the tiny crack in the wooden stile. She closed her eyes. Yup, definitely much warmer than last night. She opened her eyes. Last night...Last night had been, well, a lot of things. Odd, unexpected, comforting, confusing, but mostly it was awkward. And awkward meaning that Alfie finding you in that position and making suggestive comments and gestures all through dinner. Awkward meaning, since Alfie found out , Amber also knew and was trying to give you pointers at six am about the 'right way to woo a boy'. Awkward meaning, the giant elephant in the room every single time you and that-who-must-not-be-named were in the same place. Yes, that was a lot of awkward to scrunch up in a short period of time.

"What about you, Mara?"

Mara's head snapped up at the mention of her name. She blinked. "Yes?" She could feel every pair of eyes boring holes in her. Just perfect. Another thing to add to her 'Awkward' list.

Mr. Jillian sighed and repeated the question. "I said, do you know the origin of the String theory and the original number?"

"Um, yes I do. The origin of the String theory came from the 1968 Duel Resonance model and there were a total of five major theories. But, in 1990, a combination and unification of all five major theories was made, forming the M-theory."

Mr. Jillian looked utterly joyace. "That is correct!" he boomed, looking as excited as a kid on Christmas morning "Splendid! I see that someone has been actually reading the text book." His eyes were twinkling.

"Um, thank you, sir." Mara mumbled out, feeling her cheeks burn. Honestly, why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut? Now she would be her teacher's favorite target for a number of random scientific questions. She sighed inwardly. Now she had to actually _read_ and _memorize_ the dang text book. Worse of all, she had impressed the class nerds. To them, even the slightest possibility that a girl could be on the same level, let alone understand, the dynamics of Advance physics, was 'hot'. She really hoped none would approach her. She already had enough guy drama with a normal (maybe) boy that she didn't even want to think about trying to ward off super geniuses. Think of all the mischief they could up with!

She looked up at the room clock. Thirty five minutes till class was done. She could live with that. Hopefully. Surely.

"Mara, would you by any chance know the differences in the type IIA string theory and type IIB?"

Maybe not.

* * *

The sound of the bell ringing was music to Mara's ears. Finally, she thought, quickly shoving her stuff into her bag, finally physics was over. That had been the _worse_ thirty five minutes of her life. And she had a lot of worse moments happen in her life. One after another, Mr Jillian kept asking her every single question that came into his head, blatantly ignoring the rest of the class. And of course she knew most, if not all the question. Which only further encouraged him to ask ever even more complex questions. By the end of class it was her teaching the aspects of the lesson while the teacher sat back and practically glowed at her. It was bad. Very bad.

Cramming the last of her notebooks in her bag, Mara scooped up her text book and rushed out of the room, but before she could make it through door frame, she crashed into something with full force. The impact was hard enough to send her sprawling off course and she could feel herself begun fall backwards. Mara closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come. Except it never came. Instead she felt a strong arm wrap around her torso and that's when she realized that, that _something _was actually a _someone_. She opened her eyes. And that someone was ridiculously _fit_.

Strong jaw connected to an angular face, with sensual lips, dark hair, and the most gorgeous green eyes that Mara had even seen. She stared at him, momentarily forgetting that she was suspended in half fall in his arms, and just stared. And he stared back. Well, for a few seconds before he asked.

"Are you alright?"

"Mmmhumm." She nodded, unable to say anything else. Even his voice was sexy. It was a deep rich tone that, soothed over her body and made made her toes curl in her shoes. And then, Mara realized the position she was in.

"Oh my god!" She cried, mortified and jerked out of his arms "I am so sorry! I-I should have watched where I was going. It's just that I was trying to get out of class and-Oh, my book is on the floor." She crouched down and tried to gather her things. Her bang had been also fallen on impact and now lay open. Books, pencils, and notes were scattered about in the all way and people were walking all over them. Mara swore. Today was turning out to be just super fantastic.

"Oh, well it's my fault too." the handsome stranger replied, crouching down next to her and helping her pick up her things "I should have watched where I was going. But I know why you were so dead set on getting out of Jillian's class. After the stunt he pulled today, I would too if I was in your position." He handed her a pen.

Mara blinked and took the pen from his outstretched hand. "You're in my class?"

The stranger, who apparently was in her class, laughed. "It's kind of sad to know that you're the school rep, yet you fail to notice the people in your own class. And we have class for four months, so there is no real excuse for you to not even recognize me, you know."

Mara opened her mouth then closed it. "Ok, yeah, you're right. But I tend to not pay much attention in physics. Why bother if I will learn it myself?" That sounded cocky. She wasn't trying to be, but it just came out that way. Maybe she should just shut up. That might save her from further humiliation.

"Well, of course that makes sense. Ditch the teacher and stare out of the window. Who needs him when you have the text book, right?" They both stood up and he handed her a folder.

"Are you mocking me?" Mara asked, "Because that's not very nice."

"Well, not remembering who I am is not very nice either."

"I have never spoken to you in my life before! How am I suppose to know who you are?"

The stranger grinned and stuck out his right hand. "Well now you have. Hello, I'm Brandon. I am in your physics class and am very sorry for almost giving you a concussion on our very first encounter. How do you do?"

Mara giggled and shook his hand. "Well, hello to you too, Brandon. I am Mara and am very sorry for bumping into you and not remembering that you are in my Physics class. I guess I totally fail at being the school Representative, huh?"

"I wouldn't say fail, but you could be better at remembering faces, you know." Brandon joked. "And now I think you should get to your next class before-" The late bell rang "That happens. Uh, sorry?"

Mara laughed. "It's alright. It's just art. And my first time late. So it wont matter too much. How about you? Aren't you also late for your class too?"

"Actually," Brandon stated, taking the text book from her hands "I have a free period. Sooo, I can drop you off to class. Fancy a walk?"

She hesitated. "I don't know..."

"Oh, c'mon Ms. Rep, I don't bite." he gave her a sly smile "Unless, you want me to that is_" _

"_Surely I don't bite, unless you want me to that is." _Mara blinked at the sudden flashback and slightly shook her head. Where'd that come from? Maybe it was the whole awkwardness of yesterday that was making her randomly remember her past Jerome conversations. Maybe...

"Alright," she sighed in defeat "I guess it couldn't hurt to have you walk me to class."

A grin broke out across his face. "Great! Let go."

* * *

"Ok, spill now. What were you doing with Brandon Conroy? I thought you were dating Jerome." Amber asked as soon as Mara slipped into the empty seat next to her "Are you like cheating on him or something?"

"What? No! Amber, for the last time, I am not going out with Jerome." Mara stated, pulling out her sketch pad "And yes, that was Brandon. I don't know his last name so I can't say if it was 'Conroy' or not."

"Oh p-lease, Mara." Amber rolled her eyes "It was just a figure of speech. Everybody knows that was Brandon Conroy. How can anyone not know? And how do you even know him?"

"Um, he is in my physics class."

Amber's eyes widened. "And you're telling this to me now? Way to keep us in the dark, Mara."

Mara rolled her eyes. "I was not trying to, Amber. I only found out today that he was. And that was when I practically fell into his arms."

"Who fell into who's arms?" Patricia asked, coming to their table with an arm full of various artistic tools. Nina was trailing behind her.

"Mara did." Amber clarified "Into Brandon Conroy's arms."

Patricia raised an eyebrow. "Really? Conroy's? That boy is fit. Not to mention popular."

"And a senior." Amber piped up, dipping her paintbrush into a blob of hot pink.

"Wait, he's a _senior_?" Mara asked baffled "Really?"

"Oh Mara, for someone so smart, you sure are dumb." Amber said, painting a flower on her paper. "Even Nina knows who he is and she just came this year."

"I know who what is?" Nina asked, taking a seat next to Patricia and across from Mara.

"Brandon Conroy," Patricia said, painting a bat like creature on her own paper "apparently Mara was swept away in his arms earlier."

"I was not!" Mara protested "I fell and he caught me."

"Or so you claim." Patricia mused.

"Oh, the tall dark haired dude, that's on the soccer team right? With Mick? Isn't he like a senior?" Nina asked, slowly sketching an eye on her pad "He really is hot."

"See!" Amber exclaimed "Even Nina knows who he is, Mara, but you don't. And he is in your class! You are so oblivious to the fit guys all around you, you know."

"Isn't a 'dude' referred to a cowboy, Nina?" Mara asked, ignoring Amber's outburst.

Nina froze in mid lash. "Well, yeah, if you go all literal. But in America we just use it to describe a boy. Like how you say um bloke."

"Oh, ok." Mara nodded "That makes sense."

"Helloooo!" Amber interrupted, waving her paint stained paint brush in the air "Can we please stop talking about a dude or a bloke or whatever and start talking about what's going on with Brandon and Mara?"

"Watch it Amber, " Patricia warned, eyeing the brush with caution "if you even get a single drop of paint on me, I will dye your hair black at night."

Amber flipped her hair back. "Oh please, Patricia. You know that black is a horrid color on me. I prefer brown if anything."

"I thought black went with everything." Nina asked confused "At least, I think it goes with everything."

"It does." Patricia corrected, closing one eye to see her masterpiece better "Trust me."

"Oh, ok." Nina said, shooting Mara a trust-the-girl-who-wears-all-black? Look. Mara giggled in response.

"Anyway, are you dating Jerome or what?" Amber pressed.

"You're dating Jerome?" Both Nina and Patricia asked in unison "Since when?"

Mara slammed her head on the table in defeat. "For the love of Christ, I am NOT dating Jerome!"

"But Alfie saw you-" Amber started but Mara cut her off.

"Nope"

"But he-"

"Nuh uh."

"Saw-"

"Zzz""

"You-"

"Zip it."

"Both-"

"No."

"But-!"

"Drop it, Amber. It was all a dream."

"But, Mara!" Amber huffed "I trust Alfie. Unless he was lying to me..."

Mara sighed. She didn't want to ruin their relationship by lying but still..."No, Amber, he didn't lie to you."

Amber's face lit up. "I knew it! I was right!"

"No, you weren't!"

"OK!" Patricia yelled, slamming a hand on the table "What is going on?"

"Nothing!" Mara said exasperated "Please Amber, believe me, if anything was going on, I'd tell you."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Amber smiled "Ok! Now let's talk about Brandon. Did he ask you out?"

Nina blinked. "What just happened?"

"I don't know." Patricia answered, giving the bat like thing she call art, red bulging eyes "But it sound's like a truce."

"Why would Brandon ask me out, when I acknowledged his existence literally five minutes ago?" Mara stated, drawing a flower. Well, at least she hoped it would be. Right now it just looked like a mutated twig. "Does my flower look odd to you?"

"That's a _flower?" _Patricia exclaimed, squinting at the picture "I thought you were drawing a chop stick."

"Well, why else would he offer to walk you to class, then?" Amber pressed "He obviously likes you."

"Um, maybe because he felt guilty for making me late for class?" Mara answered in a 'duh' tone.

"Hold on a min," Nina broke in "Amber does have a point. No guy I know walks a girl to class just because he knocked her down. Mostly they just go 'my bad!' and run away."

"Maybe boys are more politer here than they are in America." Patricia teased "I mean, you Americans are pretty rude people."

Nina quirked an eyebrow. "Says the one who was a total bitch to me when I first came here."

"Alright, alright! I admit it, I was a bitch. But can you really blame for that?"

"True enough." Nina laughed "I'm just glad you finally admitted it."

"Yeah, yeah," Patricia grumbled "So what are you going to do about Brandon, Mara?"

Mara blinked. "I'm suppose to _do_ something about him?" The three girls nodded "Why?"

"Becauseeee, he is totally yummy looking." Amber said dreamily "And he is showing interest in you. And since you are available, why not go for it?"

"Hey! I'm single too!" Patricia pointed put "What about me?"

"What about you?" Amber asked.

"Set you up with Jerome?" Nina laughed "I see the chemistry between you too."

"Oooo, yes! You both would make the cutest couple!" Amber squealed "Right Mara?"

"Yeah," Mara answered weakly "the cutest." For some reason she felt uncomfortable with the thought of Jerome and Patricia, even if they were only kidding.

"EW! NO!" Patricia shot up "That is the most disgusting thing that I have ever heard!"

"Patricia!" The art teacher hissed out "Sit down and be quiet."

"Er, sorry Miss," Patricia said, slowly sitting back down in her chair and shooting the three girls a dirty look "Won't happen again."

"It better not." The teacher muttered darkly "It's always the Anubis kids, I swear."

"Duh, because we rock." Patricia whispered, sending her house mates into a fit of giggles.

* * *

"I swear she has a giant stick up her arse."

"Patricia!"

"What Mara? You know it's true. Why else would she be so darn uptight?"

"I guess," Mara hesitated "But it's still not very nice, Patricia." They had just gotten out of art and were heading off to history. Amber had to the rest room for her 'lip gloss' break and dragged Nina along with her for company.

"Whatever Mara. You're too nice for you're own good."

Mara rolled her eyes. "That's not true. Anyway, I need to switch textbooks. I'll meet you in class."

"Sure thing. Just don't be late because of a boy again." Patricia waved, walking away "Or I might have to report you for unstudently conduct, school rep."

"Oh, shut up." Mara grumbled to herself, jingling the locker door "like that 'll happen twice. Stupid locker, open!" She pushed the door again.

"You do realize that yelling at the locker won't make it open any faster, right?"

Mara froze at the voice next to her and jingled the locker once more. "Go away Jerome. I'm in no mood to put up with your sass today." She jerked the locker and with a loud clack, it opened. Finally! She shoved her physics book in.

"Oh? Not in the mood today? It must be because of Conroy."

Mara pulled out her History textbook, slammed the locker shut, and stared at Jerome. "Excuse me?"

Jerome crossed his arms and leaned back on the lockers. "Didn't you know? Apparently you are the lucky girl who's dating Brandon Conroy. It's the talk of the school." He raised an eyebrow at her stunned expression. "But judging from your fish like expression, I'm assuming that it's false."

"W-what?" Mara blurted out "How did this happen? I only met the bloke today!" She started pacing "This is not good, not good at all!"

"Do you always quote American cartoons when you're stressed?" Jerome asked, watching her wear a hole in the floor.

She suddenly spun around and pointed a finger at him. "You! You probably spread the rumor. Admit it!"

"I admit of feeling rather awkward that your finger is right in my nose. Didn't anyone teach you it's rude to point at people, Mara?" Jerome stated, looking down at her finger "And why do you always assume it's me who does the worst of things around here?"

Mara lowered her arm. "Well, that's because more than half the time it is you."

"True, but this time it wasn't me. And I was surprised."

"That it was me that Brandon was dating?"

"No. That you were _dating._ After I head that, I knew it was false. And of course I was correct." He cocked his head "Plus, as if you'd actually know Conroy. He isn't exactly the type of bloke someone like you would hang out with."

Mara felt her annoyance flare up. How dare he look down on her? "Someone like me would know? She hissed out "What do you mean? That I would only know pathetic losers like you?"

Jerome pushed off the lockers. "My, my, looks like someone's getting fiester and fiester by the minuet." He took a step toward her "What's wrong Mara? Can't keep your cool anymore?"

It wasn't that. It was only around Jerome that she was slowly beginning to loose it. But no, she wouldn't back down. Not from him. She took a step closer, narrowing the distance between them. She saw him sightly stiffen at her unspoken challenge.

"I'll have you know, Mr. Clarke, that I can very well keep my cool." She took another step forward "And, I know who Brandon Conroy is. In fact, what the rumor says might not be that far off from the truth." She whispered in his ear and backed away; enjoying the flicker of shock shoot across his eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a history class that I don't wanna be late for."

Mara tried to get around him, but his hand slammed down behind her head, barricading her in between him and the lockers. She glared up at him. "What the hell, Jerome?"

"What did you mean by 'what the rumor says might not be that far from the truth', Mara? Explain."

"And why should I? Who are you to be nosing around in my personal life? Again."

He leaned down, his lips dangerously close to her's "I ask again, Mara," he said in a low voice "what did you mean?"

"And I repeat, it's none of your business." She answered, staring back into his eyes. Those beautiful, endless eyes. Suddenly it got harder to breathe and Mara finally noticed how close Jerome and her really were. She gulped and looked away. The late bell rang, indicating that they were both late for class and were the only ones in the hallway. Her heart thudded loudly and she could feel his gaze run down her exposed neck.

He suddenly reached out, grasped her chin firmly, and turned her face back towards his own. "Don't look away. And answer me."

Mara swatted his hand away from her face. "Don't manhandle me." She said "I'm not your doll."

"Mara?" A new male asked, startling the both of them "What are you doing here...with Clarke?"

They both turned to see Brandon, standing less then a foot away, staring. Mara blinked. How ironic was it, that out of _all_ the students in school, Brandon would be the one to find her, cutting class, with a boy. Well there goes her school Rep position...

"Well, well, well," Jerome mused "if it isn't the man of the hour. Tell me Conroy, what brings you out in the halls at this time? Strolling perhaps?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Clarke," Brandon asked, walking toward them "what are you two doing?" He looked straight at Mara, who was still trapped in between Jerome and the lockers "Don't you have class?"

"I could also ask you that, " Jerome mocked "don't _you_ have class?"

Brandon ignored him. "Mara, what's going on?"

"Oh, so you do know her. And here I thought she was making it all up." Jerome's icy look landed back on her "At least this one is one can think. I applaud you on your refined taste, Mara. Bravo."

Mara glared up at him. "Shut up, Jerome. Stop being such a prick." She gave him a little push "Get off."

"But of course, " He whispered in her ear before pulling away "can't give your new boyfriend the wrong impression, now can we?"

Mara bit her lip, a bitter respond waiting to just be spat out. But Brandon was there, and it wouldn't be appropriate to have a spat out in front of him. She sighed and turned towards him.

"Nothing was going on, Brandon. We were just talking."

"Oh, ok." He didn't sound too convinced with her response, but she really didn't care.

"What are you doing here, Brandon?" She asked.

"Oh, well I actually was going to the office to drop off something from my teacher," He waved a hall pass and a yellow folder "and I saw you both." His eyes slowly lingered to Jerome, and Mara could see the distaste in them. Oh boy, what had Jerome done now?

"Oh good, so your'e the errand boy," Jerome stated cheerfully "I see that football practice does come in handy at times. I'll let Mick know."

Mara elbowed him just as Brandon glared. "I see your humor is just as colorful as I remember it last, Clarke."

"I see you're looking a bit more together from the last time I saw you. Tell me, did the puking provide as a wake up call or was it the fact that you lost all your money to an underclassman?" Jerome asked.

Mara blinked, confused. "What?"

"Oh, didn't Brandon tell you? He was so wasted at this party that he lost over £200 in a gamble to me. Talk about stupid." Jerome snorted.

"Um, well..." Mara had nothing to say. What could she? "Well, it happens..."

"It was a party, Jerome." Brandon said through clenched teeth, his green eyes glittering dangerously "you were suppose to get drunk. People were all drinking."

"Ahh, so we're going with the 'everyone's doing it' argument. Brilliant advice, don't you think Mara?"

"Shut it Clarke, I don't even know how you were invited. Probably snuck in."

"There is a reason why they call me 'King Clarke', Brandon." Jerome mused.

Brandon snorted and crossed his arms. "A self acclaimed title holds no credit, Jerome." He stated dryly "And no one calls you that besides you. So you fail pretty far."

Jerome glared. "And what do they call me, Conroy? Do mind sharing?"

Brandon smirked. "Con artist, wanna be player, the list goes on. But the bottom line is, that at the end of the day you're _nothing_. Just the troublemaker with a few pranks under his belt. Nothing more."

The tension in the room suddenly spiked. Mara could feel it. She looked between the two boys. It was suffocating. She had to do something to break it.

"Um, as much as I want to stay here chatting, we have a class to go too." She tugged on Jerome's sleeve "Come on, Jerome, we need to get to class." When he didn't budge, she pulled a bit harder. "Let's go."

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Jerome broke away from the glaring contest, grabbed her hand, and yanked her away. "You're right Mara, we must be going. Nice chatting with you, Brandon. Maybe we can sit down and discuss your tragic partying lifestyle another day, ok? Come on Mara." He started walking, dragging her along.

"Um, I'll see you around, Brandon," She shouted over her shoulder "Or tomorrow, bye!."

She heard him reply back or at least say something, but she wasn't sure. Stumbling along after Jerome, they both turned the corner and Mara found herself once again, pressed against the lockers.

Jerome glowered down at her. "Stay away from him, Mara. He's no good for you."

Mara gave him an annoyed look. "What is with you and pressing me into places? I mean seriously Jerome, stop it."

"Mara, I'm being serious. Although he's not a total meat-head like Mick, he is far worse than him. Like Ten times as worse. Trust me on it."

She yanked her arm back from his grip. "Oh? And how would you know? Does he have a bad reputation?"

"No, but-"

"Is he known around the school as a wank who pulls every girl, and don't you dare lie to me, Jerome."

"No, he's not but-"

"Is he known as a cheater and a liar?"

"No-"

"Then what's the problem? Sure he drinks, but so does everyone else, Jerome. It's not a big deal."

"Listen to me, Mara." Jerome stressed, leaning down "He is no good for you."

Mara was silent for a few moment. "You know what I think, Jerome?" she said quietly "I think you're just jealous. Jealous that I actually like Brandon in that way and not you." She was bluffing. She didn't know, but it was a better than nothing.

Jerome narrowed his eyes and she continued "You're just mad with jealously that I think Brandon is fit and smart and sweet. And that he actually likes me back. Jealous that I actually found someone with looks that also rival the brain. Jealous that he is a complete package and that you're-"

She was cut off when Jerome suddenly slammed his lips on her own. Shock passed through her, shock and...delight? The kiss was rough, unlike the one they had shared a couple of nights before. It was raw. Passion and heat coursed through it and Mara found herself being plunged full force in it.

Her eyes fell shut automatically and she tugged him closer to her as possible. She felt him kissing her, his lips meeting her's in a series of fast, lingering, pecks. Suddenly, she felt him graze her bottom lip with his teeth and felt his tongue glide over her lips, asking for permission. Mara moaned into him and granted him access. Their tongues rubbed each other, both battling for dominance.

Mara felt his hands wander down the length of her body, each caress igniting a hot flame down it's path. She groaned again, feeling her body on fire. She was hot. Her body was hot and she needed more. She ran her hand down his own body, wanting to feel the bare flesh that lay right in her reach below the stupid uniform.

Tugging his tie loose, Mara snaked a hand under his shirt and felt his tone, flat stomach. She could feel him shudder against her touch and slowly maneuvered her hand to his back. She slowly dung her nails down, causing a low growl to rumble though him.

She felt his hand trail up her bare leg, gliding over her smooth thigh, and finally grabbing it and hooking it over his waist. He hoisted her up, keeping one arm securely underneath her right leg and the other at the back of her head. Mara responded by pulling him even closer and wrapping both of her arms around his neck. And they kissed.

Mouths devouring each other, body interlocked, the passion grew into now a wild frenzy, and she knew that neither one of them wanted to stop. It was all new, all so foreign to her. And Mara liked it. Like how Jerome's touch made her whole body ache, or how his kiss shook her down to the core. She liked how his looks made her shudder or how the presence of him made her witty self come out. She liked what he did to her. Liked it a lot. And she didn't want to stop.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they broke apart; both gasping for air. They both huffed, eyes glazed over with lust and stared. She could feel her heart steadily thump in her chest, scared that it might jump out and fall to the floor. And she could feel his. His heart, also beating at the same pace as her's. He leaned his forehead against her's, not bothering to untangle himself from their twisted position on the lockers.

"I want to kiss you again, Mara." He whispered "I want to kiss you senseless." And so he did.

That was, until a cough interrupted them both again, and to Mara's complete surprise, there stood Brandon, holding one of her blue folders and staring at them in complete and utter shock.

This was not good. Not good at all.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update. I had finals and my laptop broke again. Yeah sad. Hope you like. Thank you all for your wonderful feedback. It made my day. Please review! I'd love to hear all your opinions! Enjoy!**

"You did WHAT?"

Mara buried her face in her hands. "Snogged Jerome."

"Mara..."

She sunk lower into the couch. "In front of Brandon."

"I repeat again, you did WHAT?" Patricia boomed, staring down at her with a scowl "Mara, how could you?"

"I don't know!" Mara cried "It just happened, alright? And he kissed me again."

"Yeah, but you let him. You could have pushed him away, but noo, you snogged even harder!"

"Patricia!" Mara's eyes darted to the door "Keep your voice down! I don't want anyone else to hear."

"Is that why you both were late to History? And looked so disheveled?" Patricia pressed "Tisk, tisk, Mara."

"Keep your voice down! I swear if someone hears-"

"Hears what?" Amber asked, waltzing into the student lounge room. "What are we talking about?"

"Nothing," Mara said quickly "We were just-"

"Mara snogged Jerome." Patricia interrupted "In front of Brandon."

Amber's eyes widened "No way!" She cried, plopping down next to Mara "I thought you said you didn't like him!"

"I don't!" Mara all but screamed, glaring daggers at Patricia "And on the record, he kissed me!"

"In front of Brandon." Amber said slowly.

"Yes." Mara confirmed.

"And you enjoyed it?"

"Uh, I never said that."

"So you did!" Amber concluded "I knew it! Alfie was right, you do like Jerome!"

"I do not!"

"Do to."

"Do not!"

"Do to."

"DO NOT!"

"OK!" Patricia cut in the two girls' argument "Enough, both of you. Now let's get to the problem."

"Agreed." Amber nodded. "The problem. What's the problem?"

"Brandon of course." Patricia rolled her eyes "Pay attention Amber, will you."

"Oh, right. Brandon." The blonde cocked her head and looked at Mara "He saw you both kissing right?"

"Yes." Mara nodded, closing her eyes. Now what? Brandon was the most popular guy in the school. And if word spread about what he saw, even as a boy's locker room joke, her reputation would be tarnished. People would think she's easy, a slut. And worse, she could be kicked off as The School Representative. No, this was very bad.

"Well, that;s really bad for you, Mara. Now Brandon will never ask you out!"

Her head snapped up. "Amber, I don't care if he doesn't ask me out! I don't want him to ask me out! I don't even _like _him. I'm more worried about my reputation!"

"Hey, hey, relax, girl." Patricia soothed, sitting down on her other side "We'll figure something out. No need to be stressed."

"Yeah," Amber agreed "Stress causes breakouts, which would look so bad on your complexion."

Mara rolled her eyes. "I'll take my chances, Amber. And what can I do, Patricia? Ask him nicely not to tell anyone about my moment with Jerome? I mean, I think I scarred the poor lad!"

"See, now you're just being ridiculous." Patricia commented dryly, tugging on a strand of her hair "If a guy is scarred by witnessing two people kiss, then he's not a real man. Don't guys live on that stuff? Or was that sex? Hmmm..."

"I think it's both." Amber said "Sex a bit more than kissing, but still both."

"Anyway," Mara emphasized, trying to bring her two housemates back on topic "I think I should talk to him. Tell him it was, uh, spur of the moment?"

Patricia snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that. I'd say leave it. We don't even know what type of person he is. Maybe he won't tell."

"Mick knows what type of person he is." Amber said absentmindedly "Well, I think he does. They both are on the Football team. You can ask him."

"Amber, that is a BRILLIANT idea!" Mara exclaimed springing up. "I'll just go ask Mick! Thanks!." She turned to leave. "And before I forget, no one should speaks a word about this to anyone." She stared at the both of them"Not a word."

"Yeah, yeah we get it." Patricia waved her off "Now shoo. Go talk to Mick about Brandon before he goes M.I.A."

And she did.

* * *

Tracking Mick around the school wasn't that hard to do. There were only a handful of places that he liked to hang around, and by now, Mara knew them all pretty well. After checking the Football field, cafeteria, and the second student lounge (they had two. One in each wing of the school), Mara finally found him chugging down a can of soda in front of the boy's locker room.

"Mick." She called out, walking towards the blonde boy "Can I have a word with you?"

Mick gave her an adorable smile once he saw her. "Hey, Mars. What's up? Did you need anything?"

"Yes, actually I wanted to ask-" She stopped once she spotted the can of soda in his hand. "Mick, should you really be drinking Coke before you have practice? Wouldn't that be bad?"

Mick stated down at the can in his hand. "Uh, well the vending machine was out of water?"

"Couldn't you get juice instead?"

"You are right. I should have." He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I sometimes forget you're parents are athletes, Mara, and that you know so much about sports."

Mara giggled. "It's ok. Hopefully it's a one time thing." She gave him a playful glare "Right Mr. Campbell?"

"Right Ms. Jaffray. Now what is the real reason you're here? I doubt it's to give me advice on what beverages an athletes should drink." He took a sip of his soda and waited for her reply.

"Oh, yes. Umm, do you know Brandon Conroy?" She asked timidly "Like, his personality and sorts?"

Mick thought for a second. "Brandon. Yeah, I know him. He's the center on the team. Good mate. Why do you wanna know-" he froze as a sudden realization lit his face. "Oh no Mara, not you too."

Mara gave him a puzzled look. "Excuse me?"

"You fancy him, don't you? Just like half the school's female population. I thought you wouldn't fall for his type."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mara said, sticking out her hands for more empathizes " hold on a minute there, Mick. I do not, I repeat, do not, fancy Brandon."

"Oh, then how do you know him and why do you wanna know more about him?" He took another sip of his coke.

"Well, he's in my advance physics class and-"

Mick did a spit take.

Mara jumped back.

"He's _what_?" He coughed, wiping the off his mouth with the back of his hand "You're joking right?"

"Mick! You just sprayed soda all over me!"

"Sorry, it's just, hes in advance physics? Brandon? Really?" Mick still sounded dumbstruck.

Mara made a face and tugged on her now sticky skirt. "Yes he is. Is that really so hard to believe?"

"I guess. I mean, I don't know any players who are both athletes and..." He trailed off, looking very sheepish

Mara rolled her eyes. "You can say it, Mick. Nerds. Who are both Nerds. It's not crime."

"Well, yeah... So what was the reason you needed to find out more about him if you don't fancy him?"

"Umm, well, he kinda saw something that he wasn't suppose to see..." Mara started awkwardly "And I was hoping he wasn't the kind of person who would spread unnecessary gossip and rumors."

"Well, I don't think he will." Mick paused "But then again, I didn't even know he was a closet nerd, so I don't know. What did he see?"

"Uh, something personal." Mara said, not wanting to tell him about the whole Jerome make out experience "It's nothing bad, just personal."

Mick shrugged. "Alright, it's cool. Sorry I couldn't be much of a help, but from what I've seen, he's not that bad of a guy. And he's a really great Center."

Mara laughed. "Of course you'd remember that out of all the other things."

"Whaaat? He is. But anyways, I should really go change and gear up for practice." Mick paused "You could come watch you know. And than you can talk to Brandon yourself. Get everything sorted out."

"That's really sweet, Mick, but I have work right after school. And today is Monday, meaning it will be super busy at the Bean."

"That's true," He tossed the can in the trash "People need a cup off coffee to wake them up from the weekend. Anyway, later Mars."

"See you." Mara replied, watching Mick's form retreat down n into the locker rooms. Well,that was completely useless. And her problem was yet to be resolved. Maybe she should just leave it alone. Yeah, leave it alone and let life take its course, even if it would mean her whole school reputation would crumble and she would be kicked off as the school Rep, but life was life. It always got worse before it got better and at least she wouldn't have to confront Brandon about-

"Mara?"

She closed her eyes. Why, oh, WHY, did this always happen too her? Was this some sort of sick joke that God was pulling on her? 'Mess with Mara day and see how she handles it!' Ugh! She opened her eyes and turned around, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"Hi Brandon, fancy seeing you here."

Brandon shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. "Actually, I should be the one saying that, seeing that you're standing in front of the locker rooms and I need to get to practice."

Oh. He did have a point. "Well, yeah, guess you are right." She muttered.

"Yeah..." An awkward tension suddenly drifted in between them. Brandon shifted sightly before clearing his throat.

"Well, I should get going." He said, carefully walking around her and heading for the locker rooms. But before he could, Mara's hand shot out and latched on to the sleeve shirt; tugging him to a stop. He twisted around to look at her.

"Wait. Can we talk?" She asked meekly, not believing that she actually had the nerve to stop him. What was the world coming too?

"I have to get to practice." Brandon answered flatly, trying to yank his arm free, but she held on.

"I know you do, but it will only take a second."

"Mara, I need to go."

"Just hear me out," She stressed " it's about what you saw earlier with Jerome and I. It's not-"

"Oh, please," Brandon said yanking his arm free and sounding very irritated "I don't care about what you and Clarke were doing today, Mara. So you don't really need to explain it to me. I've heard it all before, alright?"

"What?" Mara asked, not understanding where he was coming from "Heard all what before? Why are you getting mad?"

He spun around to face her. "All the girls snogging other boys and then coming up to me and explaining themselves, telling me that it was 'nothing' and still hoping I'd ask them out. Ok? I've seen all than and I'm done with it. So please, don't try to explain yourself to me, because I don't care."

Mara was taken back. "Excuse me?" She asked incredulously "You think I'm trying to explain myself to you because I want you to ask me out? Because I _fancy_ you? Are you mad?"

Brandon narrowed his eyes. "No Mara I'm not Mad. I'm just sick and tired of the same cycle. And worse of all, I didn't pin you for that sort of girl. Guess I was mistaken."

Mara let out a humorless laugh. "Really Brandon? 'That sort of girl'? Are you honestly kidding me, or are you really that arrogant to think that every girl you encounter will fall for you? Because I honestly don't care what you think about me at the moment nor was I here to change your opinion so you'd ask me out."

"Oh? If that's the case, then why did you try to explain yourself?" He asked, arms crossed and jaw set.

"Because I didn't want you spreading false rumors about me."

"Rumors about you? Is that the kind of person you think I am, Mara?" Brandon hissed "Wow, my opinion of you keeps getting lower and lower, which of course you don't care about."

"Well, how am I suppose to know what kind of person you are, Brandon?" Mara shot back "I only knew of you're existence today and was just being careful that word doesn't spread around the school, accidentally or on purpose! I never said that you would intentionally start a rumor!"

"Oh, so you don't care about what I think of you, you take me as a prick, and you never heard of me. Keep talking, Mara, what else do you indent to tell me? Afraid that I'll accidentally ruin your reputation from a 'good girl' to a 'slut'?"

Mara clenched her fist. "Go ahead, tell them." She spat out, anger slowly building up at his words "A slut? What proof do you have? What proof does anyone have besides the words of the famous Brandon Conroy? I've only ever dated Mick and the whole school knows it. And not once had I even _looked_ at other guys when I was with him. So you can try."

Brandon locked eyes with her. "Then why were you so concerned about the rumor if you're that positive no one will believe what I might say?"

"Because I didn't want my position as school Representative getting jeopardized if word got to the teachers that I was skipping class with a boy." Mare hissed.

"Oh? But you were. With Clarke. Right in the middle of the hallway."

"I was not. If I were trying to skip class, do you honestly think I'd stand in a place where I'd easily get caught? Please."

She could see the wheels in his head turning and so she continued. "That was the only reason I confronted you, Brandon. It was for my position, not for your 'forgiveness', not for my 'good girl' reputation, and certainly not for any hopes of you asking me out. Because let me say this once, Brandon, loud and clear. I do not fancy you, Never have, and thanks to today, I never will."

She turned to leave, but stopped when he said "Oh, so you just fancy kissing every bloke you like?"

Mare looked over her shoulder. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What's it to you? Maybe I only like kissing guys that I do like."

"I find you fancying Clarke really hard to believe." He mocked "seeing as you have a great dislike of him."

Mara fully turned back. "Oh? And who told you that? I think you're just mad that I prefer snogging Jerome over you, Conroy. Your ego must be crushed to hear that a girl chose another guy over the popular, athletic, smart, attractive Brandon Conroy. And what's worse? That girl was the plain old me."

She could see the anger flash in his green eyes, and she gave him a bitter smile. "I am right aren't I? What did you expect? Me to come begging back to you? Please."

That did it, and before she knew it, Mara was pressed into the wall, with Brandon glaring down at her. "You know what? You really are not what I expected, Mara. You got a mouth on you that needs shutting."

Mara smiled. "What? Did I disappoint you? Did you expect me to be the little, shy nerd that would be flustered by your presence, blush and take your words nicely? Reality check, I'm not. I'm not the perfect little girl that everyone clams I am. You said it yourself, self-acclaimed title holds no meaning, well, neither do assumed ones. And I'm tired of it."

To her surprise, Brandon smirked. "Well," he whispered "you did before. You were before. For as long as I remember, you were. So I ask, dear little Mara, what changed? What finally made you snap?"

She stared up at him, speechless. He was right. What had made her change? _Jerome. _The name popped into her head before she could stop it. It was Jerome. Jerome made her change. The harsh words that he said to her two nights ago, the ugly truth, that was the catalyst that she needed to stop being a whiny brat and start doing something about her problems. It was him.

The sheer shock of the revelation sent Mara's whole head reeling and she almost forgot about where she was and with who. It was only when Brandon lifted her chin up, she remembered. She blinked at the curiosity in his green eyes.

"At least one thing stayed the same, you still wear your emotions on your face." He cocked his head and stared into her eyes. "You figured it out did you? What changed?"

Mara nodded mutely, still numb from her realization.

"Hmm, you're one interesting girl, Mara" Brandon said, brushing his fingers down the side of her face "Far more interesting that I could have imagined. Clarke really does know how to pick 'em."

He leaned down, and in one swift motion kissed her. Mara jerked up in surprised and he bit her lower lip, running his tongue over his mark and pulled away. He stepped back, and giving her an insidious smile. "A very interesting girl, Mara. And I'm certain that you've got plenty more surprises in you that I will find interesting as well."

"What the hell was that for?" Mara hissed, rubbing her lips with the back of her hand.

"That was a promise." Brandon said, heading towards the locker rooms.

"A promise?"

"A promise that I will make you eat your words, Mara. That you will fall for me and will be mine. And don't you worry, I won't say a word about what happened today." With that he went in the locker rooms, leaving Mara to reply his words in her head.

"I'll never fall for you," Mara called out to the empty hall "Nor will I ever be yours Conroy. That is my promise. Because..." Because there was already someone else on her mind.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone. I know I haven't updated in forever, but I was busy. I had a wedding come up and also moved to a new place. So you can imagine all the stuff I had to do. Anyway, hope you all enjoy and like this chapter and remember to review! I wanna hear all your thoughts! Enjoy!**

"Welcome to Java Bean, may I take your order?"

"Yes. I would like a cup of Coffee please."

"Sure, one cup of coffee. Would you like anything else with that?'

"No, that would be all."

"Alright sir, that would be £1.99. Your order will be ready in a few minutes." Mara said, handing the man his receipt and heading to the back of the cafe to make the coffee.

It was six pm sharp, and finally the afternoon rush in the small cafe was dying down. Mara sighed as she put a fresh batch on the machine and leaned against the wall for a moment's rest. It had been a long and Mara was both physically and mentally exhausted. For the past five hours she had been on her feet,, running back and forth from the cash register to take the orders and make the orders. Her feet were killing her and all she wanted to do was go home, take a long hot bath, and curl up in bed. But then...how would she turn off her thoughts? About Jerome? About Brandon? About everything that happened?

She sagged lower. This was going to be a long stressful week, and if she was this tired on Monday, Mara didn't even want to think about how the rest of the six days would play out. She closed her eyes. She needed a vacation. Some place far, far away, with a nice tropical beach, and the sound of the sea lulling her to sleep. Yeah, that would be nice...

"You know, we still have a customer waiting for his coffee."

Mara's eyes snapped open at the sound of Lucy's voice. She turned and found the red head holding up the coffee container and staring her. Mara ave her sheepish smile.

"Sorry, Luce. It's been a long day and I didn't even take my break yet."

"Well, you should. I gave the guy his coffee and after the next customer, you should take a break, kid. You look exhausted."

"I am." Mara nodded and fixed her cap "I've been here since one. So glad the rush is finally over."

"Yup," Lucy nodded "bu it looks like the new Cafe down the block is getting more people. Stupid snooty, new high class businesses. Stealing our customers away. Who the hell do they think they are? Flashing their goods? Humph."

"Well, guess they are our competition." Mara shrugged "At least now we would be more motivated to work harder. And by us, I mean Larry, who is on the phone with his girlfriend again."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Again? I swear if those two don't get past their honey moon stage, I will ship the girlfriend off to Africa. LARRY GET OFF THE PHONE!"

Mara laughed and shook her head. Tired or not, she really did love working here. There was never a dull moment. And with Co-workers like Lucy and Larry (who were actually siblings) even the yucky days seemed less yucky. She smiled and walked back out to the front.

"Welcome to Java Bean, may I take your order?"

"Mara?"

Her smile faltered. "Oh, hi Brandon. May I take you order?"

"No Mara, I'm not here to order something. I need to talk-" Brandon started, but Mara cut him off.

"Look Brandon," She said hotly " if you're not going to order anything, please step aside. I have other customers waiting in line."

"But Mara-"

"Excuse me sir, may I take your order?" She asked the man behind him, ignoring Brandon completely. She really did not have time for this nonsense now.

The man looked from Brandon to her and then answered "I'd like to have a slice of Pecan Pie, please."

"Sure thing, Sir. Would you like anything else with that?"

"No, thank you."

"Alright. That would be £2.99. Is that to stay or to go?"

"To Stay."

"Sure. Give me a moment please." Mara said, picking up the glass cabinet and taking a slice out. She was perfectly aware that Brandon was still watching her, but she ignored him nonetheless.

"Here you go, sir." She said, handing the man his slice and receipt "And have a nice day."

"Mara," Brandon pleaded as soon as the man walked away "can we please talk?"

"I don't know Brandon, I am really busy now." Mara answered, waving on the next customer " Maybe later."

"But-"

"Mara, Lucy say's it's your break now." Larry interrupted, coming in from the back and standing next to her "And I''m suppose to cover for you. So go on before Lucy gets on my back for being lazy and not giving you a break."

Mara cursed under her breath. Great, just great. Now that she was given her break, she had no excuse not to talk to Brandon. There went her avoidance plan. Life really did suck at times.

Sighing, Mara gave Larry a quick nod and scurried to the back. There she found Lucy flipping through a magazine and stomped toward her. "You really do have crappy timings at times, you know that?"

The red haired girl looked up and popped her gum. "What? What did I do now?"

Mara sighed and plopped down in the seat next to her. "Nothing, nothing."

"It can't be nothing, nothing when you just stomped toward me, looking like an angry Koala bear. What's up?

"It's just- Wait, did you just call me an angry Koala bear?"

"Indeed I did. Go on, tell Luce-Luce what's bugging you."

Mara blinked. "Luce-Luce? "

Lucy rolled her eyes. "It's an old nickname, but enough of that! Tell meeeeeee."

"Ok, ok. Jesus, relax will you." Mara laughed "It's just that I was trying to avoid/ignore a person who is trying to talk with me. And now that I'm on break, he will be relentless."

"Ohhh, you mean that fit boy with gorgeous green eyes and dark hair?

Mara started at her. "How do you know?"

"Well, because he's standing right behind you." Lucy said, looking past her shoulder.

"What?" Mara jumped up and spun around. And sure enough, there was Brandon, standing a foot away and staring at her with pleading eyes.

"How did you even get in here?" She asked "It's for employes only."

"The guy out in the front let me in. Can we please talk, Mara?" Brandon stressed once more "I swear it will be quick."

"But-"

"Oh for crying out loud, just go with him!" Lucy burst out before Mara could protest further "It's not like he's going to eat you. And if you do," She turned to Brandon "I have cameras outside, so I will know. And then I'll report you to the police, or better yet, get the job done myself." She oped her gum and gave him a sweet smile. "Now off you go kids, and remember, I'm watching you. Bye!" With that, she promptly dug her nose back in to her magazine, leaving Mara and Brandon to stare.

Mara recovered first. "Ok, let's go out side and talk. And keep you hands and lips and whatever else you have, to yourself. Got it?"

Brandon put his hands up. "Got it. No touching Mara."

"Good. Let's go."

She led the way out through the side door and out to the front yard. It had gotten dark and the cold night air chilled Mara through her thin cotton uniform. She groaned inwardly. Why did she always end up outside on cold nights without a jacket? She would surely catch pneumonia if this continued.

Mara rubbed her arms. "Ok, so what was the thing you had to tell me that was so important?"

"I wanted to say," Brandon cleared his throat " I wanted to say sorry for what happened earlier today. I shouldn't have done that and I apologize for my actions."

A strong gust of wind tore through the trees, whipping Mara's cap off and causing her dark hair to spill down her shoulders. She stared at him, confused.

"You wanted to apologize to me?" She asked. He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Couldn't you have waited till tomorrow to tell me?"

Brandon shook his head. "No, it couldn't have. I was a total Jack to you and I needed to apologize as soon as I could. When I replayed the conversation in my head in the locker rooms, I realized how much of a prick I sounded. And I wanted to apologize. So I came here after practice."

Mara blinked at his words. He wanted to apologize? He couldn't have waited till tomorrow? Was he really that upset about what had happened?

"Uh, wow. No one has ever done this for me before." She said awkwardly "I mean, you were a bit of a prick and cocky..."

"Yes, I know." Brandon said "I just, I don't know, got mad? I was just saying things from experience and didn't think that you might not have the same intention. And when you laughed in my face, well, I lost my cool and did something stupid. And so, I wanted to say sorry."

Mara swallowed. "And all that stuff you said about 'making me eat my words'? What about that?"

His head snapped up. "Like I said, I was mad. So I didn't really mean any of it."

"Any of it?"

Brandon opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly a new voice screamed his name.

"Brandon Micheal Conroy, get your stupid little arse over here. Now!"

Both their head snapped towards the new voice. It was a girl, possibly in her early twentys, with long dark hair and a slim figure, marching right toward them. And she looked murderous. Behind her, Mara heard Brandon swear. Who ever this woman was, she was somehow connected to Brandon.

The Woman stomped toward them and in one quick motion, grabbed Brandon in a head lock, never mid the fact that she was about three inches shorter than him. Mara just blinked at the sight. What was going on?

"Did you apologize to her?" The mysterious woman asked, squeezing him harder "Were you really sorry?"

"Yes, yes. God Aisling, let go of me, she's standing right there!" Brandon yelled, trying to get out of the woman's vise grip.

The woman known as Aisling, turned and blinked as if noticing Mara "Oh, oops?" She giggled and let go of Brandon "So sorry about that. Hello, I'm Aisling, nice to meet you!" She stuck out her hand, which Mara shook hesitantly.

"Hello, I am Mara. Nice to meet you Aisling."

"Oh, Brandon is this her?" Aisling asked, and Mara noted that she also had the same shade of green eyes as Brandon "she's so cute!"

"Ignore her, Mara," Brandon said, fixing his shirt collar "My sister has problems."

"Your, sister?" Mara asked stupidly.

"Yes, I'm his _older_ sister. Did he apologize to you about acting like an arse yet?" Aisling asked.

"Aisling!" Brandon cried "Shut up!"

"No! You are an idiot! Didn't I tell you to not let your looks get to your head? Arrogant idiot!" She pinched his cheek "Next time listen to your big sis, and nothing like this will happen."

"Get off me! You're only three years older." Brandon pushed her away.

"But I have three years of wisdom. Wisdom!"

Mara stared at the two siblings with awe. They really did look almost alike. Both were equally stunning, and both had rather...unique personalities. Mara coughed. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to get back to work soon."

Aisling pushed her brother off and turned to her. "Oh, I'm sorry you had to see that. But some times my brother can be a total meat head. Men. Can't live with them, can't live with out them. So, did he apologize sincerely for running his motor mouth?"

"Aisling!"

"Quiet, you." Aisling told Brandon without a glance "So, did he Mara?"

Mara tugged on the apron of her uniform. "Yes," She mumbled, looking down "Yes he did."

"And do you forgive him?"

Mara looked up. Aisling's expression was serious. She blinked. Did she forgive him? He really did sound and look sincere. Plus he came all the way to her work from practice. Maybe, just maybe...

"Yes," Mara answered at last "I do forgive him."

"Really?" Brandon asked surprised "You do?"

Mara smiled at his baffled expression "Really, I do."

"Great!" Aisling burst out "Well then, my work here is done." She picked up Mara's cap and handed it back to her "It was nice meting you, Mara. If you ever need anything, just call me. Here's my number." She pulled out a pen from her back pocket and scribbled it across Mara's palm "And before you ask how I knew about this little incident, I wormed it out of my little brother on the phone. Keep in touch, and you." She pointed to Brandon "Walk her back home tonight. It's getting late. Well then, toodles!" With that she walk back off in the direction she came minutes before.

Mara stared after her in shock and then looked down at her had where Aisling's number was scribbled across in bright blue ink, and then finally stared at Brandon. "Well, that was...interesting."

Brandon rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that. My sister is, my sister is...well, she's something."

Mara nodded. "Well, I should be heading back to work. My break is almost up. Guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Nope. I'm walking you back, remember? So I'll wait till your shift is done. When do you finish?"

"You really don't have to, you know. It's no big deal."

Brandon snorted. "Aisling is visiting back from her Uni and if I tell her I didn't walk you back, she'd skin me. Plus, I want to. So I'll wait."

Mara pinched the bridge of her nose. Boys, couldn't even take no for an answer. "Alright fine. I can ask Lucy if you can wait in the back while I work. I bet she wont mind."

Brandon gave her a hundred watt smile. "Awesome. Let's go ask Lucy then."

"Ask Lucy what?" Asked the said girl, poking her head out of the door way. "I hope you're not asking me to be your witness if you both plan to elope."

Mara rolled her eyes. "No Lucy, we wanted to ask if Brandon could sit in the back and wait until I was finished with work. He's walking me home."

"Aw, how sweet. Sure he ca-" Her phone went off, blaring "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" by the Beatles. Mara raised an eyebrow a the song choice, while Lucy quickly had a mini convo.

"Ok, kiddo," She said, shutting her phone off "quick change of plans. Arnold says he can make it tonight, and will cover your shift through midnight. Soooo, you're free to go home."

"What? But I still have an hour to go!." Mara protested, but Lucy wouldn't hear any of it.

"Just think of it as a break. You need one anyways. I don't want my workers falling asleep on me every time they fetch a cup of coffee, now do I?" She gave Mara a knowing look and Mara sighed in defeat.

"Fine, I'll go change."

"Excellent! " Lucy chimed, grabbing Brandon's arm "You go do that, while I show your gentleman friend here, around the old place." With that, Lucy tugged Brandon into the cafe.

Mara sighed and looked up at the shadowing sky. Fat gray clouds had slowly began to roll in, indicating that it would rain soon. Maybe it was good that she would be getting off early. Getting caught in a rain shower on a cold night would totally end in a disaster. With one final look at the clouds, Mara followed the other two in.

* * *

Oddly enough, Mara didn't actually end up going home right after she changed. Instead, she and Brandon had decided to take a little detour to the park. It was still a pretty night out for a mini stroll, since it still hadn't rained yet. Maybe those clouds were just there for show. But spending time with Brandon was actually kind of...fun.

She had learned various random little things about him, like his favorite food (tacos), favorite color (green), and favorite ice cream flavor (cookie dough). He had also told her what he planned to do in the future, more about his sister (which was quit amusing and a bit disturbing), and his favorite childhood experiences.

And in exchange, Mara too had told him random facts about her uninteresting life, which surprisingly, he found interesting. Especially about her parents being athletes and about how she had an older sister. It was actually a very nice experience. Both walked slowly through the park, laughing and joking about their life, school, and yes, physics.

It was all nice until Brandon casually asked. "So, what's up with you and Clarke?"

Mara stiffened. "Nothing. Nothing's up with us."

"Oh," she could feel Brandon glancing at her as they walked "well I thought, you both were, I don't know, had a thing?"

"No," Mara answered "We didn't, we don't." She didn't want to talk about Jerome now, and especially not with Brandon. As of right now, it was a restricted topic, and with her revelation today, she was afraid to even touch on it until she did further thinking.

"So, you aren't going out? And it's for certain?"

Thunder suddenly grumbled above them. "No, we are not going out. And it's about to rain soon so I should be heading home. You should too if you don't want to get wet."

Brandon looked up. "Yeah, you're right. It's about to rain. I'll walk you back to the dorm. And don't worry, my car's parked in front of the school so I won't get caught in the rain."

Mara nodded. "Ah, that makes sense."

They both fell into a peaceful silence. Another grumble of thunder boomed and a flash of lightning zipped across the sky. They both continued to walk silently, until they spotted the tips of the emerging school building. Brandon paused.

"Well, here's the school. Which way is your dorm?"

Mara giggled. "You don't know the way to the Anubis house?" She asked playfully "My, that's a shocker."

Brandon gave her a playful grin. "Well, seeing as I have never actually gotten a chance to go to your dorm, I wouldn't know."

Mara laughed. "Fair enough. This way, and hurry, it's going to rain soon. I don't want you getting soaked when you go to your car on my behalf."

"A little rain doesn't hurt anyone, you know." Brandon said, walking along side her on the gravel path "Why are you so worried?"

"Well, that is true. But getting wet on a cold night like this can lead you to getting sick, which is bad. Seeing that we have a test on Wednesday." Mara replied "Which you can not miss."

"Ahh physics, the killer of all fun. Well here you are. The stone gates of Anubis. Do you want me to walk you straight to the door or is this ok?" Brandon asked as they stopped in front of the stone fence. Mara smiled.

"No this is fine. I think I can handle the evil bush monsters that might come at me while I make my perilous two minute journey to my home." She teased him playfully.

"But you may never know." Brandon said , giving her a shifty eye look."The gravel monsters might get you before the bush monsters do."

Mara laughed at his expression. "I think I can handle them. But thanks for walking me home and for the stroll in the park. It was nice."

Brandon shoved his hands in is pockets and gave her a cute smile. "No problem. It was the least I could do for acting the way I did today. So I'll see you tomorrow,, then?"

She nodded. "Definitely."

"Great." He said, leaning over and giving her a small peck on the cheek. "I'll see you then."

Mara watched as Brandon's figure disappeared into the shadows ad she lightly touched the place his lips had once been. Warm. His lips were warm against her cold cheek. Suddenly, a fat rain drop landed on top of her nose, snapping Mara out of her thoughts.

She looked up, only to be hit in the eye with yet another rain drop. Great, just great. Now it had decided to rain, when she was only three yards away from Anubis. She sighed and quickly started to walk toward the house; knowing perfectly well that if she paused , even for a second, she would get drenched.

She was half a yard away from the door when a voice stopped her in her tracks. "I see that you and Conroy seem to be getting cozy."

Mara froze, her heart thudding loudly in her chest as Jerome stepped out from the darkness and into the porch light. As usual he was without a coat, trading for a black tee shirts and slacks. Another roll of thunder crackled above.

"What are you talking about, Jerome?" Mara asked, trying to keep of her voice steady. What was wrong with her? Why on earth was she suddenly feeling so nervous around Jerome?

"Oh? Was it not Conroy that just walked you home?" Jerome asked, stepping down from the porch and slowly walking towards her "And didn't he just give you a kiss?"

Mara swallowed and took a step back. "Yes so? That doesn't mean that I'm getting cozy with him, Jerome."

He took another step forward. "I think it does." Another crack of lighting.

She took a step back. "No it doesn't."

"Yes it does." He stepped forward.

"No it doesn't." She stepped back.

"So are you saying, little Mara," Jerome said, taking another step forward, standing inches away from her face " that you go around kissing every bloke that makes a move? Are you really that desperate for a boyfriend?"

Mara clenched her fist, her nervousness quickly being replaced by anger. "I don't think I'm desperate." She said coolly, refusing to back down.

"Oh, and why is that?" Jerome asked, his eyes locked with her's.

"Because then that would mean that I was desperate enough to date you, and for that to happen, well, let's be honest here,it never would." She leaned up and whispered in his ear "So, Mr. Clarke, your accusations are false. Next time, try to let your ego deflate before you start pointing fingers."

She took a step back, watching as a spark of anger glimmered in his eyes. He smirked. "Well done, little Mara, well done. Looks likes your tongue keeps getting sharper by the minute. But be careful, or I might just have to bite it out of your mouth."

Mara smirked. "I'd like to see you try, Jerome. But as for right now, I'm tired, cold, and hungry. Plus it's about to rain. So, I'm going inside, but you can still stand out here and contemplate my motives for spending time with Brandon."

She started to walk past him, until a firm grip on her arm yanked her back to her previous spot. She glared up at Jerome, who in turn, gave her one of his wicked smile. It didn't reach his eyes. "Fine. I will."

"Will what?" Mara asked annoyed, trying to break free from his grip.

"I'll contemplate as to why you were spending time with Conroy. Let's start shall we? Did you two meet to discuss something regarding your physics class?"

Mara struggled. "No."

"No? Well, maybe he had something to say to you, something important. Was it about what he saw today?"

"Wrong again." She hissed "You really are quiet terrible at this game, Jerome."

He smiled, and pulled her closer. "Oh really? Then I'll keep guessing. He came and found you at work."

"Yes, that is correct." Mara answered, staring up at him. They were really close. Close enough so that she could see the the irises in his blue eyes. So close, that only the fabric of her jacket separated their two bodies. Her heart beat sped up.

"Really? How very interesting. Now why would the mighty Brandon Conroy, the golden boy of our school, go out of his way to visit you? Hmm?" He tilted her chin up"Unless...unless he wanted something or...did something that he had to make right."

Mara froze. "No," she lied, trying to back away from him "nothing happened. He just showed up at the cafe for a treat and then decided to walk me back. That's all."

Jerome grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "You're lying."

Thunder crackled. "No, I'm not."

It started to rain. Heavy, cold droplets drenched them both. "Yes you are. I can see it in your eyes, on your face. You are lying, Mara, lying to my face. What happened with Conroy?"

Mara squirmed, trying to pulling away. "Jerome, Jerome it's raining. We should go inside. Let's go inside."

But he grabbed on to her other arm and kept her steady. "I don't care. Tell me what happened with Conroy, Mara. What did he do?"

"Nothing!" The rain was getting harder. "He did nothing."

"You're lying." Jerome's voice was like steel "Stop lying. What happened between the two of you?"

Her clothes were soaked, from her jacket ,to her shirt, to her skirt, all wet. "Why do you care?" She cried "It has nothing to do with you!"

It was getting harder to see. Blurry images danced in front of her and Mara had to constantly blink to see. Jerome looked hazy, hair plastered down from the rain, clothes clinging tightly to his body; he looked so misty. But his eyes, his eyes looked livid. Like two orbs of burning sapphire.

He yanked her closer."It has everything to do with me, Mara." He hissed in her ear "Because you are mine."

"What?" Mara asked, truly shocked from his statement. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me, Mara" Jerome mused, bringing his lips to her neck. "I didn't studder."

Mara shivered, not from the cold, but from how Jerome's lips felt on her neck. Cold. Cold, chilling lips on her cold wet skin, but despite that, she was getting warm. Very warm. She squirmed.

"Stop it. Stop it Jerome. Stop saying such outrageous and stupid things. I'm not yours. I don't belong to anyone."

"Mmm, I disagree." He mumbled, trailing his lips down her neck and up her throat "I say you're mine, and I don't like sharing."

"But-," Mara protested, feeling his hot tongue flicker across her throat "but you said you didn't love me."

"So?" He said, kissing her jawline "What's love got to do with wanting something? I want you, you're mine, that doesn't necessarily mean that I love you."

She was speechless, her heart thudding loudly "W-what? That's, that's-"

Jerome cut her off by placing a chaste kiss on her lips. "That's what, Mara?" He kissed her again.

She broke away. "That's so heinous!"

"Really? Is it?" Jerome answered, leaning his forehead against her's. "You seem to like it when I kiss you."

"I-I don't." Mara stammered, trying to get away from him. "I-"

"Isn't that want you wanted, Mara? To be wanted by someone? Anyone? Even if they don't have any fondness toward you? Any love? So your boring excuse of an existence can have a meaning? So what's the matter now? Aren't you happy to be wanted by me?"

Every word was like a slap in the face. It stung. Bad. Angry and hurt, Mara shoved Jerome back with all her might. Caught off guard, he stumbled a few steps back. She clenched her fists.

"You are an ass." Mara said, blinking away rain and tears "A horrible, twisted, manipulative ass. You think I'm happy to be wanted by you? Happy? I am disgusted that someone like you would even look at me!"

Jerome smirked. "So what? You want to be with someone like Conroy? Mr. Popular? Please."

"Not want." She hissed "Am."

The smirk slipped from his face. "What?"

Mara smirked, rain slid off her hair. "What's wrong, Jerome? Surprised? Well don't be. I don't need you. I don't need your kisses, I don't need your pity, and I don't certainly need your tongue. You are nothing to me. Absolutely nothing. So do me a favor and never speak to me ever again."

With that said, Mara walked past him. He didn't try to stop her. He didn't say a word. He only stood in the rain, a shadow in the night.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again! Sorry for the long wait, but I have been uber busy this month. And to make it up to all of you, I have made this chapter super long. Please don't forget to give feed back and review, I would love to hear all your opinions. **

**Contest! Draw your favorite scene from the fanfic or something you want to happen in the story. Winner will get a bonus chapter from Jerome's POV, regarding a scene that will happen in the very near and distant future and will be the first to read. The rest of the people will have to wait till the end of my finished fanfic to read the bonus chapter. The Deadline will be a week after I upload chapter 10, since I will be working on my other fanfic, and will have a tiny break from this story.**

**You can e-mail me you're drawings at my fanfiction email: melkitty at ymail . com**

**Or tweet me your drawing at ChuCookie**

**Or just PM it to me**

"More chicken soup, dear?"

"No thank you, Trudy."

"Are you sure, dear?"

"Yes." Mara croaked, pulling her covers above her nose. "I think I have no strength to swallow another bowl of chicken soup. My throat is killing me."

Trudy sighed. "Well, that's what you get for standing out in the rain, Mara. A nasty cold. But don't worry, you'll be in tip top shape after you get some rest."

Mara sniffled a nod.

"Well then, I better let you rest. Ring that bell if you need anything." Trudy said, referring to the tiny silver bell that sat promptly on her night stand.

Mara gave another slight nod, and snuggled deeply under her covers; waiting for Trudy to leave. As soon as she heard the door shut, Mara threw the covers off her head and sighed a heart-wrenching sigh.

She was an idiot.

A stupid, living-in-the-moment, talking-without-thinking, idiot. Why, oh why, had she told Jerome that she was with Brandon? What on earth had possessed her to sprout such nonsense? And how would she even live up to her words? Sure Brandon liked her, as a friend for sure. But as a girlfriend? Dating? Those thoughts hadn't even crossed her mind till now.

"Stupid Mara," she mumbled, throwing an arm over her eyes "stupid, stupid Mara. How the hell am I going to get myself out of this mess?"

'You know what to do,' A tiny voice spoke up in her head ' you know how to get out of this mess. Date Brandon.'

"What?" Mara's eyes snapped open "That's preposterous! I will not date Brandon. He doesn't even like me in that way!"

'Oh? Doesn't he?' The voice whispered again 'Wasn't he very curious of the relationship between you and Jerome? Didn't he double check?'

"Yes.." Mara answered hesitantly.

'Then he likes you.' The tiny voice urged in her head 'He likes you, Mara. And you should date him. Only then will you get out of this mess. Or else...'

"Or else what?" She asked, knowing perfectly well that she was talking to a voice in her head. What was becoming of her?

'Or else, you'll be known as a liar. And a liar does not get to be a school Representative. Your whole reputation will be ruined. All that hard work gone!'

"No it won't."

'Yes it will.' The voice sounded distant, a fading echo 'Yes it will. You know what you have to do...'

"I know what I have to do." Mara mumbled, her eyelids suddenly feeling very heavy "I have to date Brandon..."

* * *

The next time Mara opened her eyes, she came face to face with a pair of green eyes. She blinked once. Than twice. Then a third time before reaching out and poking the face that the eyes were attached to.

"Mara," the face with the green eyes asked "what are you doing?"

"Oh," She answered, retreating her hand back under her covers "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hallucinating."

Brandon gave her a quizzical look. "And why would you think you're hallucinating?"

"Because it's surprising to see you sitting in my room, watching me sleep." She replied, sitting up a bit "Which leads me to my next question. Brandon, why are you sitting in my room watching me sleep?"

"I wasn't watching you sleep, Mara." Brandon said matter-of-factly "I actually just came in here a few moments ago to see if you were feeling better, since you've missed class for two days now."

That jolted her awake. "Two days?" Mara asked, panic slowly creeping into her voice "What day it is?"

"It's Wednesday afternoon."

"WHAT?" She screamed, making Brandon cringe "I've been sleeping for two days? And the physics test is tomorrow! How am I going to study in time to pass it?"

"Mara, calm down." Brandon soothed "You just woke up, and judging from that scream you just let out, I'd say you're feeling a lot better."

Mara opened her mouth to reply, but froze when she realized Brandon was right. Her throat did feel a lot better and her headache was also gone. She sniffed. And yes, she could breathe again. Guess sleeping like a rock for two days straight did help the body heal...

"Yes, you are right, Brandon," She said meekly " I am feeling a lot better."

Brandon gave her a warm smile. "Great. And maybe you can talk to Mr. Jillian about letting you take the test on Friday. So you can have an extra day to study, since you've been sick and all."

Mara nodded. "That sound's like a good plan. But what if doesn't agree?"

Brandon rolled his eyes. "Please, Mara. He adores you after you explain the String theory to him. I'm pretty sure he will comply."

"Yes, but what if he doesn't?" Mara pressed "then what?"

"Then I guess you study like you've never studied before and take the test tomorrow." He answered bluntly.

"Well, that's just peachy." Mara grumbled, crossing her arms "I will fail. All because of a stupid thunder storm. Just peachy."

Brandon laughed. "You look cute when you're upset, you know that Mara?"

She blushed at his comment. "No I do not."

"Well you do," Brandon said softly "Especially when you get all flustered. It's very adorable."

"Um, thank you." She answered, fiddling with her fingers "um, Brandon, may I ask you something?"

"Sure. Ask away."

Mara swallowed. It was now or never. "Brandon, do you...do you like me?"

"Of course I do. Why do you even ask?"

She tugged at her covers, playing with a loose string. "No, I mean, I mean, do you like me as in do you fancy me?"

Brandon was quiet for a moment. "Why do you ask, Mara."

She dare not look up. "Just wondering, I guess." She pulled at the loose string.

There was another silence. "And what if I say yes?" Brandon asked quietly "What then?"

Mara shrugged, still refusing to look up; the plucked string dancing between her finger tips.

"I asked you a question, Mara" He said again "Look at me." He tilted her chin up so that she would meet his eyes. "What happens then?"

Mara blinked. "I don't know what happens. What do you want to happen?"

"I want, " Brandon said, leaning in a bit "for the girl I like to go out with me. What do you think?"

"I think..." Mara said, getting lost in his green eyes "I think you should too."

"Really?" He whispered, leaning in a bit closer "You sure?"

"Mmmhmm." she nodded, leaning in closer.

"Good," He whispered "Let's seal the deal with a kiss."

Their lips met in the middle.

* * *

And that was how they started dating. Just like that. With one simple kiss. Of course the whole school was a buzz with the news that the rumored golden couple, were actually a real couple. And as if Mara didn't already have enough on her plate (with the tests and missed homework assignments) her new found popularity was not sitting well with some people. Especially Amber.

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Brandon Conroy were going out?" She had asked Mara the very next day "I thought you promised to tell me everything!"

To which Mara had sighed and replied "I'm sorry Amber. I had no clue that we were dating either until yesterday afternoon."

"Ooo you mean when he came to visit you?" And the rest was history.

And even today, a day after most of the craziness had ended, Mara was still getting surprises. First of which was hate mail she had found in her locker that morning. Piles of it.

"Wow," Patrica had said, when she saw the bundle of envelopes "someone doesn't like your new found happiness."

The second was the unexpected call from Aisling, wishing Brandon and he a happy and well life, and how she was happy that her "idiotic brother had found someone worth keeping." How Aisling knew her number, Mara did not know. All she knew was that Aisling still scared her a little, and did not want the hyper Uni girl on her tail.

The third and final surprise that she had gotten today, which she was still not quiet over, was what Brandon had said. Well, rather asked actually. He had invited her to a party! A party that was happening this Friday night! Of course she had said yes (although it did take a bit of convincing from Brandon) which was why she was stuck in this predicament.

Standing in front of her bedroom mirror, with half her closet spilled all over her bed, and still having no clue what to wear. And what was worse? She had less than two hours until Brandon came to pick her up. Mara sighed. This was not going well.

"Knock, knock! Did you find something to wear yet, Mara?" Amber asked, poking her her blonde head through the door and eyeing her bed "I hope you did. You have only a bit of time to get ready!"

"No, Amber," Mara said, holding up another dress to herself in the mirror "I did not." She tossed the dress in the growing pile of 'not applicable' clothes on the bed and pulled out another from the closet "Are you sure you can't come with me to the party?"

"I can't." Amber answered, walking into the room and picking up a pink sweater from the bed pile "I'm having dinner with Alfie's parents today. Why do you own this Jumper, Mara? It's hideous!"

Mara tossed the camisole dress on the bed and pulled out a white tank. "Well, at least you will have fun. And that was a gift to me from my great aunt Matilda."

"So? Not all gifts are worth keeping, you know. Why don't you ask Patricia or Nina to go with you?"

"I can't. They all have plans to go see some show down town. Do you think this is appropriate?"

"Absolutely not!" Amber exclaimed "White is a big no for parties. Try black. Do you have any black dresses?"

"Well...I have one." Mara said reluctantly "But I don't like it."

Amber rolled her eyes. "As you know, our fashion choices are very different. Let me see the dress and I'll decide."

"I don't know..." Mara hesitated.

"Mara." Amber said, giving her a hard look "if you want to look nice at the party, show me the dress."

Mara sighed. It was a lost cause fighting with Amber about dresses. Slowly, she reached in the back of her closet and pulled out the dress. "Here, this is it. What do you think?"

Amber let out an ear piercing shriek when she saw the dress, startling Mara and making her nearly drop it "OMG, Mara. Are you kidding me?" Amber cried, bouncing up and touching the dress "It's absolutely gorgeous! You have to try it on!"

"W-what?" Mara stammered "I-I can't. It's too short-"

"It is not! It will make you look sexy. Go try it on. Now!" Amber urged, pushing Mara out of the bedroom and into the bathroom "And you can not come out of there until you try that dress on." With that Amber promptly shut the door.

Mara sighed and stared at the dress in her arms. Sure it was pretty, but it was so short! Surely it was very inappropriate to wear it to the party. But...Amber did know best when it came to fashion. And it was her very first real party...Mara sighed again and began to change.

As soon as she slipped on the dress, she felt exposed. It was a strapless black mini sweater tube dress, that wrapped around her like silk ribbons. It was form hugging, showing every curve of her body; every imperfection.

Mara swallowed, and opened the bathroom door. "There, happy now?"

Amber's eyes widened and another shriek of joy escaped her lips. "Oh my god, Mara! You look soooo pretty! Brandon won't be able to take his eyes off you!"

Mara tugged the dress lower. "Are you sure?" She asked awkwardly "Isn't it a bit too...short?"

"No way! It makes your legs look longer and shows off your curves! Plus it goes perfectly with your sink tone and exposes your collar bone. Wow!"

"Really?" Mara asked shyly "You really think so?"

"Whoa. Look at you! Who are you and what have you done with Mara?" Patricia's voice made Mara jump "You look hot!"

"See." Amber looked smug "I told you so Mara."

"Wow," Nina commented, coming to stand besides Amber and Patricia "You look amazing."

Mara blushed and tucked a stand of her hair behind her ear. "Thank you."

"Good! Now we need to decide what you will accessorize. Nina you got shoe duty, Patricia you got Makeup, and I will do the hair and jewelry." Amber commended "Chop chop people, we only have an hour left until Brandon comes! Let's move it!"

"Wait, what?" Mara managed to squeak out, before she was whisked away by her three dorm mates.

* * *

"There, finished!" Amber exclaimed, stepping back and examining her master piece "I'd say we all did a pretty good job."

Mara blinked, and turned to look at herself in the mirror. What she saw, surely made her gasp. The girl staring back at her was not the Mara she knew. No way.

Dark smokey eyes, cascading long dark hair, tainted pink lips, flawless skin, curve worthy body, long legs; no, this was definitely not the Mara Jaffray she knew.

"Do you like it?" Amber asked.

"I-I love it!" Mara sputtered, tugging at a stand of her hair "I love how you pinned back my hair, and the make up, and and the jewelry, and the heels!" She turned and gave all three of the girls a big hug "I absolutely love it! Thank you! All of you!"

Patricia laughed. "No problem. But you might wanna let go. You will ruin your hair."

Mara nodded and stepped back. "Do you think Brandon will like it?"

"He'll be crazy not to." Nina assured "Now all you need is your bag and you are ready to go."

Mara nodded and picked up her bag just as the door bell rang. She froze, a thousand butterflies suddenly erupting in the pit of her stomach.

Brandon was here! He was here, and all she wanted to do was to go hide.

"Ooo, your date is here, Mara." Amber squealed "Better go down stairs and wow him!"

"I-I can't." Mara whispered out "What if he doesn't-"

"Oh, be quiet and get your arse downstairs, Mara." Patricia interrupted "You look hot. And I bet you anything that his eyes will pop when he sees you. So go on, get down stairs."

Mara clutched her bag and slowly went down the stairs, making sure not to accidentally slip and fall in her three inch heels. 'Just keep breathing' She told her self, as she got closer to her destination 'Keep breathing and don't fall down.'

She spotted Brandon standing by the front door talking to Trudy. He looked good, in his faded jeans and a casual black dress shirt. As soon as he heard her come down the stairs, his head snapped up and his eyes widened. He blinked once, than twice, and then gave her a once over. Mara felt herself turn pink.

"Oh my," Trudy gasped "Mara darling, you look beautiful."

Mara smiled, stepping down off the final step and turned to her. "Thank you, Trudy."

She looked over at Brandon, "Hello."

Brandon snapped out of his trance and smiled. "Hello. You look stunning, Mara, absolutely stunning."

"You don't look half bad yourself." Mara teased back, feeling giddy with happiness. He liked her! He really liked her outfit! The girls were right.

"Well then, shall we be off, my dear?" Brandon asked, extending his hand towards her.

She took it. "Of course."

* * *

The drive to the party was very short and was filled with laughter. Brandon had later explained that the party was at one of his mates house while his parents were away on a weekend trip. The thought of throwing an illegal party didn't quiet sit right with Mara, but she kept it to herself. Would there be alcohol? Would it get out of hand? She was getting very nervous just thinking about it.

"Here we are." Brandon said, parking the car and breaking her out of her thought's "Eddie's place."

Mara peered at the decent sized house. Music blasted from the inside and couples could be seen snogging out by the front porch. She swallowed, the nervous feeling getting stronger.

"Well, come on then." Brandon said, getting out of the car and coming over to her side "are you nervous?" He asked, opening the door and helping her out.

"Just a little." Mara admitted "I don't know if I will fit in, that's all."

"Don't worry. You look hot. You will fit in just fine. Just stay close to me, alright?"

Mara nodded and Brandon wrapped an arm around her waist. Then went in.

As soon as they entered, Mara's ears almost burst with the sound of loud music. It was deafening. Bodies were mingled on top of each other and the lights were dimmed. She held on to Brandon more tightly. The place was jam packed. There wasn't even enough room to walk around freely.

"Hey, Brandon!" Someone yelled over the music, and waved in their direction "Get your ass over here, mate!"

Brandon tugged Mara along. "Come on, this way."

Mara nodded and pushed through people. Someone whistled at her, but she didn't dare look. She only wanted to be out of there. Finally, after what seemed like ages, both of them reached their destination.

It was a blonde boy, someone who Mara vaguely recognized seeing in the hallways at school. He smirked when he saw her and gave her a twice over. "Looking very fine, Miss School Representative. Who knew you could clean up so well?"

"Shove off, Eddie," Brandon growled, pulling Mara closer to him "don't mess with her."

Eddie pushed his hands in front of him. "Hey, hey, hey. No need to be testy, dude. I won't bother your girl anymore. Still can't believe your dating a goody two shoe."

Mara stiffened at his words and Brandon shot another dark look at Eddie. "Shut up, man."

"Ok, ok. Drink?" Eddie asked, passing Brandon a red cup, which he took willingly. "And one for you, miss hot school rep?"

Mara shook her head. "No thank you, I don't drink."

Eddie barked a laugh. "Of course you don't. See what I told you, Brandon? Goody two shoes." He turned to Mara "Come on, miss Rep, live a little. Or are you scared?" He dangled the cup in front of her tauntingly.

"Didn't I tell you too-" Brandon stared, but Mara cut him off.

"Ok," She hissed, taking the cup from Eddie "I'll 'live a little.'" She took a sip. It tasted horrible. A bitter after taste almost made her spit it back out, but seeing the look in Eddie's eyes, Mara closed her eyes shut and chugged down the whole cup.

"There," She said handing Eddie the now empty cup back "is this what you wanted?"

He whistled. "Not bad, Miss Rep, not bad at all." He refilled the cup "Now can you take on round two?"

Round two was way harder and not only did it have more drinking, but shots. Jello shots. And lots of them. Buy the time she was done, Mara was feeling very light headed. A hazy happy feeling washed over her and the world seemed to be in a far off distance. She stumbled, falling on top of random strangers and giggled. She was free! She wanted to fly! She flapped her arms.

"What are you doing, Miss Rep?" A voice asked from behind her.

"Eddie!" Mara giggled and launched herself at him. "Look, look, I am flying!"

Eddie laughed."No you are not flying. Where's your boyfriend?"

"My boyfriend?" Mara cocked her head "Oh, OH! Brandon!" She looked around "I don't know. He was hear a minute ago."

"Really, now?" Eddie pulled her closer "Do you wanna dance, Mara? I don't think Brandon would mind us just dancing."

Mara nodded. "Ok! Let's dance!"

"Excellent." Eddie whispered, pulling her closer. Their bodies moved to the music, pressed up against one another. Eddies hands trailed down her body and she in turn, tangled her hands in his hair.

They moved faster. Music and lights and people all blurred into one. Then suddenly Mara felt his lips on her neck. Cold wet lips. She giggled.

"What are you doing?" She laughed "That feels cold!"

"Nothing." Eddie mused "I like the way you smell. You smell nice."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Do you wanna dance some more?"

Mara shook her head. "Nope! I think I should go find Brandon! He's my boyfriend!" She broke away, but Eddie pulled her back.

"Are you sure? We could do other things too?"

Mara tried to pull away. "Yes! I'm sure. Let go!"

"But I want to know you a little better, Mara." Eddie said "I want to know why Brandon likes you. Are you good in Bed?"

"Let go!" Mara screeched, trying to break free of him. She stepped on his foot and dug her heels in. Eddie let out a yelp and let loose of his grip on her arm. Mara tumbled back into the crowd.

Someone grabbed at her thigh. She jumped and smack the hand away. She needed to find Brandon, she wanted to go home. Stumbling and tumbling she tried to find him, but Brandon was no where to be seen. She panicked and tried to get out of the front door.

Hands grabbed her again as she pushed past the crowd. Finally she reached the front door and then she was outside. The cool night air felt nice on her flushed skin, and the party music drowned into the background.

She started to walk, her eyes felt blurry and she was lost, but she needed to get away from the house. As soon as she was at least a block away she opened her purse and pulled out her cell phone.

Trying to dial the number was hard. She almost dropped the phone two times. Finally she dialed the number and pressed talk. The phone rang. And it rang again. And again.

"Come on," Mara whined "Pick up. Pick up!"

She stumbled on a rock. "Stupid rock! Pick up the phone!"

On the sixth ring the person picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello? Hi, Jerome! It's me, Mara!"

"I know who you are, Mara, it's called caller I.D. Why are you calling me?"

Mara sat down on the pavement. "I dunno. I felt like calling you. Are you sleeping? Because I'm not sleeping."

Jerome was quiet for a moment. "Mara, are you ok? You sound weird. Where are you?"

"I am perfectly fine!" She giggled, laying down on the pavement "I'm under the sky! It's sooo pretty, Jerome. The stars twinkle!"

"You are definitely not alright. Ok, where were you before you were under the sky?"

She counted the stars. "At Eddie's house."

"Who is Eddie?"

"Brandon's friend. He's my boyfriend, you know. Brandon."

"Yes, yes," Jerome sounded annoyed "but why were you at Eddie's house?"

"Because of a party!"

Jerome swore. "Are you drunk, Mara?"

She giggled. "Noooo."

"Yes, you are. Jesus, where are you? Can you look around and tell me?"

Mara sat up. "I see trees. Lots of trees. And a statue. Oh! I think I'm on the other side of the park, Jerome!"

"Ok, that's good. Did you leave the party, Mara? Are you alone?"

Mara nodded. "Uh huh. I left because Eddie was trying to hug me. He kissed my neck, and wouldn't let go!"

"What?" Now Jerome sounded angry "And what did you do? Where was Brandon?"

"Umm, I stepped on his foot real hard and he let go. Brandon wasn't there. And I fell."

"You fell?" There were some shuffling sounds from his end "And what happened then."

"I think I'm going to cross the road, Jerome. In to the park!" Mara exclaimed, trying to stand up.

"No!" Jerome exclaimed "Stay right there, Mara. Don't move."

"But, but but, whyyyy?" Mara whined "I like the park. It's very green."

"Do what I say, Mara. I'll be right there to pick you up."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Now just stand there and don't move."

Mara stared up at the sky. "Can I sit down and not move, Jerome? My feet hurt."

Jerome sighed. "Yes, you can sit down and not move."

"Yay!"

"I'm almost there Mara, tell me more about the party. You fell?"

She watched a car go buy. "Yes. I fell. And then people tried to grab me."

"They did?"

"Yes! And so I-I kicked and moved and tried to get free and look for Brandon."

"And did you find him?"

"No, silly!" She giggled "Brandon went bye bye. And so I went out the door and I walked and I called you!"

"Really? That's all?"

"Yes. Oh and I stepped on a rock! Stupid rock! He tried to make me fall down!"

"The rock?"

"Yes, the rock! It's evil!" She giggled "Are you almost here, Jerome? I'm getting lonely."

"Yes, I'm almost there. Look, I see you now. Turn around Mara."

Mara turned, and sure enough, there was Jerome, walking towards her. She sprung up and waved. "Hello Jerome!"

Jerome sighed and clicked his phone shut. "Mara, you're pissed."

Mara pouted. "Am not! I only drank a little."

"Oh really, then tell me again why you are calling rocks evil?" He asked, walking towards her. He gave her a once over "At least you nice."

"I do?" Mara twirled "Why, thank you! It wasn't me but everyone insist I try it on-AHH!" She screamed as she tripped over her on foot and fell, but luckily for her Jerome caught her just before she could crack her skull open.

She stared up at him, who looked down at her annoyed. "Really, Mara? First you drink and then you try to kill yourself. Come on, get up. We're going home."

Mara nodded and stood back up, latching on to Jerome's Arm. "Did I wake you when I called?"

"It's only nine twenty. I wasn't sleeping." Jerome answered curtly, wrapping an arm around her waist for support.

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Then you must have been with Mick in the house."

"No, Mick wasn't there."

She looked up at him. "Really? Is he hiding?"

Jerome gave her a sidelong look. "No Mara, he isn't hiding. He had to go somewhere."

"Oh." She put her head back on his shoulder "Do you know where he went?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because?"

"Because where Mick goes doesn't concern me."

"Oh."

There was a short silence, which she broke. "Then you must have been lonely."

"What?"

Mara looked up at him. "Lonely. Because there was no one home."

"No, I wasn't lonely. I don't get lonely."

She scrunched up her face. "No, everyone get's lonely, Jerome. Even when you have people around you."

"Oh, like you?" He shot back.

Mara shut up. "Why do you have to be mean?"

Jerome smirked. "Because I'm not a nice person. Here we are. Let's go in and be quiet. I don't want Victor or Trudy finding you drunk."

She nodded and they slowly crept up the stairs. Suddenly, a wave of nausea hit her and a familiar feeling started to build up in her chest.

"Jerome," Mara coughed "I think I'm going to vomit."

"Oh, bloody hell." Jerome growled, dragging her to the bathroom "here, go vomit in the toilet."

And so Mara did. On her knees, clutching the sides of the rim, she emptied her stomach out. And when she was done she slowly stumbled up and flushed.

"All done?" Jerome asked from the outside "Or do you need more time?"

"More, time." Mara said, staggering over to the sink "I need to brush my teeth."

"Brush your..Mara you have to be kidding me. What if you fall down and knock yourself out?" Jerome hissed from outside.

"No!" Mara said stubbornly, turning on the water and rinsing her mouth. "My mouth feels yucky." She slowly reached for her toothbrush and toothpaste. She tried to squeeze out the toothpaste. But it refused to come out. She tried again.

Suddenly, the tube was snatched from her hand and someone put the paste on her brush. "There," Jerome said, sounding irritated " hurry up and brush your bloody teeth."

Mara nodded and happily brushed her teeth. She snuck a peek at Jerome, who was leaning on the door frame, looking very grumpy. She giggled and finished brushing her teeth. "Ok!" She cried, once she rinsed her mouth "I'm done! Now what?"

"Now, you go into your room and change and sleep." Jerome said taking her by the hand and leading her to her room "Because you will have a very bad headache in the morning."

"But but but, I don't wanna go to my room, Jerome!" Mara cried "I wanna stay with you!"

Jerome gave her a stern look. "No, Mara. Go to your room and sleep."

Mara whimpered. "But-"

"Now!" Jerome yelled, casing her to flinch. Reluctantly she walk back to her room, closing the door behind her as she did so. Once there, Mara ripped off her jewelry, took off her heels, and tore of the pins that were holding her hair back. Throwing them all on the dresser, she fell back onto her bed. She sniffled. Jerome was being mean again. And, and who was he anyways, giving her orders? She could do anything she wanted! And right now she wanted to be with Jerome.

Feeling rather light headed, Mara tumbled back up and opened her bedroom door. Quickly, she wandered across the hall and knocked on Jerome's door. He opened on the third knock.

"Mara, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to go to be-"

She kissed him, taking him by surprise and cutting him off mid sentence. "I don't wanna go to bed, Jerome." She whispered, standing on her tippy toes and kissing him again "I wanna be with you."

"Really," Jerome whispered back "You should leave."

"Why?" She asked, slightly pushing him inside his room and kicking the door shut behind her "Don't you wanna stay with me too?"

"No, I-"

"Shhh," She said, pushing him down and making him sit on the bed "Don't talk. Just kiss."

"Really, Mara?" Jerome said, reaching out and running his fingers through her hair. "Do you really think that's such a good idea?"

"Mmhmm," She nodded falling into his touch "I think it's a good idea."

"Well, I don't." He answered, much to her dismay and pulled his hand back "Go back to your room, Mara. You're drunk."

Mara glared. "No."

He raised an eyebrow. "No? Are you refusing to leave my room?"

"Yes," she hissed, climbing on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck "I am refusing to leave your room." She dipped down and kissed his cheek. "And," then she kissed his forehead "you," then his jaw "can't" then his neck "make" then the corner of his mouth "me." and finally his lips.

She could feel his heart beat against and could feel his hands slowly trailing up her body. He kissed back, his hands coming to rest at her waist. She sighed, loving the way their bodies molded together.

"Mara, " he whispered, once they broke apart "Why are you doing this to me?"

She propped her chin on his head, feeling his lips slowly trail across her bare shoulders. "I don't know." She said, reaching down and tilting his head up, "but I like it."

She rubbed her thumb gently across his lips, before leaning down and capturing them with her own. She pushed him down, straddling him and deepened the kiss. A low moan vibrated through him and she smiled.

"Shhh," Mara whispered, trailing kisses down his neck and throat "Don't say a word." She kissed his collar bone, tugging his shirt open as she did so.

"Mara," Jerome let out a warning growl "Stop it."

"No." She said, running a finger down his chest. " I won't." She kissed him again, gently nipping at his bottom lip, while her hands continued to explore his body.

Suddenly, she was flipped over and he was on top. Jerome's eyes glittered dangerously. "Stop it, Mara." He hissed "You're acting like a whore."

"What?" She asked, shocked by his words.

He got off her. "You heard me, Mara. You are acting like a drunken whore. Coming to a man's room at night, kissing him, saying you want to be with him, when clearly you have a boyfriend." He crossed his arms "I wonder what the definition of that would be."

Mara gave him a startled look, hurt slowly gnawing at her chest. Her head started to throb, and tears came to her eyes. "Why do you have to be so mean to me?" She cried, tears slowly leaking out of her eyes. "Why Jerome? What have I ever done to you?"

"What?" He said in a bored voice "I am not a nice person. I though you knew."

"Liar!" She screamed, crashing her hands on the bed "Liar! You are a nice person. Why else would you bring me home?"

"Be quiet, Mara." Jerome said, glancing at the door "I don't want Trudy or Victor to get up here."

"No! I won't." She cried, rubbing her eyes. "You always try to hurt me. In here." She clutched her hand over her heart "you try to help me then you hurt me. You don't even know how much you hurt me!"

"Shh, Mara," He said coming over the bed to calm her down "look you are just drunk, ok? And if we get caught, we will be in serious trouble."

"You kiss me and tell me that you want me and then you hurt me. You tell me you love me but then say it was a lie." Mara hiccuped "but you tell me to face my problems and to stop being a brat. So I don't know what to think."

"Shh," Jerome whispered "it's ok. Just go to bed."

Her head started to pound. "I don't know what to think anymore! I don't know if I hate you or if I like you!"

He froze. "What?"

She looked at him. "I don't know if I hate you or if I like you, Jerome."

"You...like me?" He asked her, surprised.

Mara shook her head and sniffled. "I don't know! I can't get you out of my mind. I like it when you kiss me, I like it when you hold me. I like it when you're nice to me, when you help me. I hear your voice in my head, telling me what to do. And I think...I think that I might like you, but then, but then you do things and say things to hurt me." She looked up at him, tears slipping out "Do you like hurting me? Is it fun giving me pain? Am I just your toy?"

"Mara, hey, Mara look at me." Jerome urged, grabbing her head in both hands and making her face him "Mara, I said look at me."

"No!" She fussed, pulling away from him. The pain in her skull heightened. "Every time I think you've changed, that you might actually like me, that you might care for me, you do things to change my opinion. So tell me Jerome, what am I suppose to think? Should I like you or should I hate you?"

The pain intensified, splitting her head into two. Mara swayed, the world slowly dimming around her. She looked up once, catching a blurry face with blurry eyes. "What should I do?" she softly murmured before the world turned completely black.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**

**And don't forget about the contest! I can't wait to see what you all come up with! =^-^=**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone. I know I haven't updated in a while, but I was busy with my other story . Anyway, hope you all enjoy this long chapter and remember to review! I wanna hear all your thoughts! Enjoy!**

The next time Mara opened her eyes, she was hit with a skull splitting headache. Groaning, she slowly sat up. The world was bright. Bright and loud. She moaned again and scratched her head. What happened last night? After the Party? It was all blank.

Sighing, Mara plopped back down and pulled the blue cover over her head. Sleep. She needed sleep. She closed her eyes, praying that the next time she woke, the headache would be gone. She breathed. Yes, all would be fine...

Wait, blue covers?

She jolted back up, causing her head to pulse more. She looked down. Blue covers. She did not have blue covers. Her covers were green. Green, with hearts on them. Not blue. These were not her covers. She looked around. And this was not her bed. And this was not her room. It was Alfie's. Alfie's and Jerome's. She was in Jerome's room. She was in Jerome's bed.

What. The. Hell?

She quickly checked her clothes. Good, they were on. Still the dress she was in from last night. But why then was she in Jerome's room? Surely nothing had happened between them...did it? Her head throbbed.

"Glad to see you're finally up."

Mara jumped and grabbed her head. Too loud. Like a firecracker.

"Does your head hurt?"

She nodded.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

She nodded again.

Jerome paused for a second. "Does hearing me talk also hurt your head?" He asked softly.

Mara nodded again. "It feels like I have been trampled by a herd of elephants."

"Well, that's what you get for carelessly drinking." Jerome said "A very bad hangover."

She looked up at him. He was perched on Alfie's bed, staring back at her. "How much did I drink?"

He shrugged. "How should I know? It was you at the party, not me."

"Oh, right." She murmured "Um, Jerome, why am I in your room?"

A smirk stretched across his face. "Why, don't you remember last night Mara? Surely you haven't forgotten what happened."

Mara's brows furrowed "What...happened?"

"Between us, I mean." He casually replied.

Mara's heard sped up. "What are you talking about?" She asked, panicked. "Nothing happened!"

"Oh, are you certain of that?" Jerome mused, standing up and walking slowly towards her "You can't even remember where you were last night."

"I-I'm sure."

"Really?" He asked, leaning down to her.

"Really." She gulped, clutching the bed sheets. "Why are you so close."

"Why not?" Jerome whispered, slowly crawly on the bed "Scared?"

"No." Mara replied, lying "I just think it's very rude."

"Rude?" Jerome smiled, reaching out and ruffling her hair "Of course Only you would think that." He got off the bed "Take the pain killers and the water on your left and hurry back to your room before the others wake up. We don't want to cause a commotion, now do we?"

"Pain killers?" She said stupidly.

Jerome pointed to the side table. "Yes Mara, pain killers. To lessen your headache."

"Oh," She answered, picking up the two tablets and swallowing them down with the glass of water "thank you."

Jerome shrugged. "No problem. But really, you should leave my room. I know my bed is nice, but I would prefer it to be empty when I sleep in it. Unless, you wish to join me."

Mara's cheeks flushed. "No way! I'll get out. But you didn't answer my question. How did I get here?"

"How do you think you got here?"

"Umm, I don't know."

"By walking?" He helped "Or maybe by car. By bus perhaps?"

"Jerome!"

He smiled. "I think you should think hard and remember on your own as to how you got here."

Mara glared. "You're such a darn prick at times."

"It's my honor to be one, milady." Jerome replied cheerfully "Now please, get out."

"Alright, alright. I'm getting out. Geez." Mara grumbled, throwing off the covers and standing up "But how come no one knows that I am in your room? Didn't Alfie see me in here?"

"Nope. Alfie and Amber ended up spending the night at his parent's house."

"Oh. And what about Patricia?"

Jerome shrugged. "I told her that you went to a friend's house."

Mara stared. "And she _believed_ you?"

Again, Jerome shrugged. "Who knows. Just go to your room before anyone suspects that you're hiding out in my bed."

She rolled her eyes. "Why would anyone ever suspect that, Jerome?"

"Because Alfie is going to be back any minute and your sitting on my bed." He pointed out "And you know how Alfie is."

As if right on cue, the door bell rang, followed by Alfie's loud 'We are back!' "And here his is now." Jerome stated "I should go stall him. Just leave."

Mara nodded. Jerome paused at the door. "Oh and Mara?"

"Hmm?"

"You are one hell of a kisser." With that, he walked out the room, leaving Mara red and speechless.

* * *

"So, where were you last night?" Patricia asked, pouring milk on her cereal "I didn't see you when I got back home and found you in your bed when I woke up."

Mara bit into her muffin. "I was with, um, friends."

Patricia rolled her eyes. "Like I would believe that. You left your cell phone and purse in your room. Not to mention your shoes."

"Well, I came home and switched shoes. I didn't take my purse because I wouldn't need it and I guess I must have forgotten my cell phone." Mara replied and took another bite of her muffin. Maybe Patricia would buy her story. Please, buy her story.

"Well, I guess that some what makes sense. Who were you with and how was the party?" Patricia took a spoon full of cereal

"Um, it was-"

"It was Janis Meyer." Jerome cut in, walking into the room "Wasn't it, Mara?"

"Um, yes, yes it was. I asked her to give me the notes I missed in physics class the previous two days." Mara quickly added "So I was with her."

Patricia chewed her cereal "Really? When did you get back."

"Late. Very late. Everyone was asleep when I got back. So yeah..."

"Oh, well how was the party?"

"Yes, how was this infamous part that you attended last night, Mara?" Jerome asked, taking his usual seat next to her "Any thing interesting happen?"

Mara shot him a dirty look. "No, nothing interesting. It was fine."

"What did Brandon say when he saw you all dressed up?" Patricia asked "Was he stunned?"

Mara smiled at the memory. "Yes, he was very stunned."

Jerome snorted. "He was probably stunned that you actually showed up to go to a party."

He reached for a banana.

Mara threw her half eaten muffin at him.

Patricia choked on her cereal.

"Your really annoying at times, you know that?" Mara responded, grabbing another muffin from the basket.

Jerome blinked, his hand frozen mid way of the fruit bowl. "Did you just toss...a half eaten muffin at me?" He sounded confused rather than angry.

Mara bit into her new muffin. "Yes I did."

Jerome blinked again and retreated his hand. "Why?"

"Because you were being a prick." Mara replied bluntly.

"So? You just can't go around throwing half eaten treats at people, Mara. That's just wasteful." He retorted.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, like you starting food fights are contributing to end world hunger."

"That's different-" He started but Mara shoved a muffin in his mouth.

"Be quiet, will you?" She stated, rubbing her temple. "You're making my headache worse."

Patrica coughed. "You both are acting very strange today. It almost seems like you're a couple."

Mara snorted. "Clearly, that will never happen. And besides, I'm dating Brandon."

"Speaking of which, where was he when you left the party? You did tell him you were going to Janis's place, right?" Patricia asked.

"Uh, of course I told him..." Mara lied "He was ok with it."

"Really? Was he now?" Jerome bit into the muffin "I'm surprised he didn't walk you back home either."

Patrica raised an eyebrow. "He didn't?"

"Of course he did!" Mara quickly corrected, shooting Jerome a warning look "Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know, maybe getting shamelessly drunk at a party, perhaps?" He sounded edgy.

"Why would you say that, Jerome?" Mara asked.

"Um, ok, well I'm done with my cereal. So I'll be leaving." Patricia stated, getting up and shooting the both of them a curious look "Have fun with your conversation."

As soon as Patricia walked out of the kitchen, Mara whirled at Jerome. "What the hell is your problem?"

"I don't know, what is yours?"

"I'm being serious." She hissed "Stop adding unnecessary comments about Brandon. It's not like you know anything about him."

Jerome slammed both hands on the table and got up. "Well then, next time you get your self all pissed, don't call me." He snarled "Ask your little _boyfriend _to pick up your drunken self and drag you back home."

She blinked. "What?"

A cruel smiled played at his lips. "Oh, that's right. You don't remember anything that happened from last night. Try to think, will you."

"Wait, what do you mean, Jerome?" He didn't answer. Instead he tossed his muffin in the trash and started to leave. Mara grabbed his arm before he could. "Jerome, I'm being serious."

He shrugged her off. "So am I."

"Stop being such a brat and tell me what happened last night." Mara snapped "I really don't have time for your childish games."

"Well too bad. Make time." He retorted.

She was about to answer back when her cell phone suddenly went off. Startled, Mara quickly checked her caller I.D. Brandon. Why was he calling her at eight in the morning?

"Well, I'll take that as my cue to leave." Jerome said flatly "Give my regards to Conroy." With that he walked out.

Mara sighed and flipped her phone open. "Hello?"

"Hey, Mara." Brandon's voice sounded groggy on the other end "Where are you?"

"Hi Brandon, I'm at home. Why would you ask?"

"Oh, ok good. Well, because I couldn't find you last night at the party. Eddie said you guys danced and then you disappeared,"

Mara blinked and sat down. "I danced with...Eddie?" Bits and pieces of last night blurred together. The drinking. The dancing. The searching. "Yes, I remember doing that. But I tried to find you too and couldn't."

"Huh. Well I was talking with some friends and I guess we got separated. How did you get home?" He asked "Did somebody take you?"

She furrowed her brows. "I think someone did...I guess." She tried to remember again.

_"Do what I say, Mara. I'll be right there to pick you up."_

Her eyes widened. That was Jerome' voice. Did he...did he really pick her up? What was going on?

"You think? Aren't' you sure?" Brandon sounded worried.

"No, no my friend picked me up. I remember now." She answered "Listen, Brandon I have to go now. Maybe we can talk later?"

"Ok, yeah sure. See you Mara."

"Bye." She clicked the phone shut and threw her head into her hands. So Jerome wasn't lying. He really did pick her up and Brandon really did abandon her. Then...what exactly happened last night that resulted her in his bed? She closed her eyes and thought hard.

_"Jerome," Mara coughed "I think I'm going to vomit."_

_"Oh, bloody hell." Jerome growled, dragging her to the bathroom "here, go vomit in the toilet."_

_And so Mara did. On her knees, clutching the sides of the rim, she emptied her stomach out. And when she was done she slowly stumbled up and flushed._

_"All done?" Jerome asked from the outside "Or do you need more time?"_

_"More, time." Mara said, staggering over to the sink "I need to brush my teeth."_

_"Brush your..Mara you have to be kidding me. What if you fall down and knock yourself out?" Jerome hissed from outside._

_"No!" Mara said stubbornly, turning on the water and rinsing her mouth. "My mouth feels yucky." She slowly reached for her toothbrush and toothpaste. She tried to squeeze out the toothpaste. But it refused to come out. She tried again._

_Suddenly, the tube was snatched from her hand and someone put the paste on her brush. "There,"Jerome said, sounding irritated " hurry up and brush your bloody teeth_."

"Oh my god." Mara said horrified "I vomited? In front of Jerome? And he helped me with it?" A wave of embarrassment hit her with full force and Mara felt her cheeks redden. This was not good. How ever would she be able to face Jerome now? But one thing was for sure. She had to thank him.

But...something still didn't seem right. How did she end up in her bed if he helped her back from the party? Her thoughts were interrupted when the rest of the Anubis house hold came into the room for breakfast.

"Hey, Mara." Nina greeted "Why are you here by yourself?"

"Oh," Mara said, standing up "I already ate. I was just going to leave."

"Really?" Nina asked "The food's barely been touched. Are you sure you ate?"

"Yes, yes. I'm sure. " Mara said hastily "I should go. Bye." She ran out of the room.

* * *

The rest of the day went by painfully slow and by the end of it, Mara still couldn't remember the rest of last night. She sighed and closed her book shut. She had been on the same page for nearly an hour.

"Finally closed that book, eh?" Patricia mused from the other end of the room "I was wondering when you would turn the page."

Mara sighed and buried her face in her pillow. "I don't feel like reading."

"I can tell. Your mind seems to be somewhere else anyways."

She looked at Patricia."You could tell?"

"Everyone could tell."

"Oh." She put the pillow back over her face. So everyone could tell? Could Jerome tell that she was out of it too? She shook her head as soon as that thought came to her. Why would she even care about what Jerome thought of her? He was just an annoyance in her life. But...he did help her last night. Or at least in the parts she could remember. And she still had to go thank him properly. Yet, she still couldn't remember all of last night!

"Ahhh!" Mara screamed, jolting up in bed and throwing her pillow down "So confusing!"

"My goodness, Mara." Patricia asked, startled by her spontaneous outburst "What is the matter with you today?"

"A lot of things." Mara muttered darkly, getting out of bed "But one in particular."

"Which is? Uh, where are you going?" Patricia called to Mara's retreating back.

"Somewhere." Mara answered, shutting the door behind her. She could have sworn she heard Patricia mutter something about 'PMS problems' but she wasn't sure. And anyways, she had another matter to take care of first.

"I hope this goes well." She muttered, standing in front of Jerome's door. "But I have a feeling it wont." She knocked.

No answer.

She knocked again. Really? She knew he was in there. "Jerome?" She called. No reply. Frustrated, she twisted the door knob and entered the room.

He was there, of course, sprawled on his bed, headphones on, reading a book. A comic book by the looks of it. Mara crossed her arms and waited for him to notice her presence. And waited. And waited. After what seemed like a life time, he finally looked up.

He blinked and pulled off is headphones. "When did you get here?"

"I've been here for a while." She replied "I also knocked several times before too."

"Oh." Jerome sat up and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Well, what do you want?"

Mara uncrossed her arms. "I want to thank you."

He perked an eyebrow. "Oh? For what?"

"For last night. For bringing me home from that party. I remembered it."

"All of it?" He asked.

"No, not all of it. But enough to thank you." She answered "So, thank you for bringing me home last night."

He leaned back and tucked his arms behind his head. "Alright then. I couldn't say it was my pleasure in doing so, but at least you got here in one piece. And you need to stop venturing in my room whenever you please. It's a bad habit."

Mara rolled her eyes. "Oh please, like I'd ever willingly walk into your room, Jerome."

A secret smile crept across his lips. "Don't be so sure about that, Mara."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm leaving." She turned to go, knowing very well that his gaze was still on her. Watching her intently. She touched the door knob.

_Quickly, she wandered across the hall and knocked on Jerome's door. He opened on the third knock._

_"Mara, what are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to go to be-"_

_She kissed him, taking him by surprise and cutting him off mid sentence. "I don't wanna go to bed, Jerome." She whispered, standing on her tippy toes and kissing him again "I wanna be with you."_

She let go of it as if it had burned her. What was that? What did she do? She turned around to face him, turning pale.

"Did we, I mean, did something happen between us last night?" She stuttered out "Jerome?" She was slowly starting to panic.

Jerome only looked at her with his unreadable blue eyes, not answering.

"Jerome?" She asked again. More memories started to piece together.

"_Mara, " he whispered, once they broke apart "Why are you doing this to me?"_

_She propped her chin on his head, feeling his lips slowly trail across her bare shoulders. "I don't know." She said, reaching down and tilting his head up, "but I like it." _

_She rubbed her thumb gently across his lips, before leaning down and capturing them with her own. She pushed him down, straddling him and deepened the kiss. A low moan vibrated through him and she smiled._

"_Shhh," Mara whispered, trailing kisses down his neck and throat "Don't say a word." She kissed his collar bone, tugging his shirt open as she did so._

"Jerome?" Hysteria was now fully in her voice "Answer me!"

"What would you do," He asked, standing up "if I said yes?"

"_No." She said, running a finger down his chest. " I won't." She kissed him again, gently nipping at his bottom lip, while her hands continued to explore his body._

"No," She whispered, grabbing her head "No no no no! It can't be true!"

He was watching her. She could feel his eyes on her. She dared not to look up. A course of emotions waged on through her. Hurt. Fear. Disgust. Disbelief. Shock. Guilt. They were all there. How could she? How could she spend the night with him? How could she betray Brandon like that? She felt tears prick the sides of her eyes.

"Would it really be that bad, to spend a night with me?" Jerome asked her quietly. He was now standing directly in front of her. When had he gotten there?

She shook her head. Dirty. She felt dirty. She should have never drank. Should have never gone to the party. "I'm leaving."

She turned, but Jerome's hand slammed the door shut behind her. She heard the click of the lock.

"Jerome, let me out." Her voice wobbled "I want out!"

He spun her around and slammed her against the door. "Answer me!" He demanded.

"Yes!" Mara cried out "Yes it is! I have a boyfriend. I can't go around sleeping with other guys. Especially when I'm drunk. I feel..."

"You feel what?" His hands were on either side of her head, pressing on the door, and caging her between his arms.

A tear slipped out. "I feel dirty." She whispered.

There was instant silence.

Until Jerome let out a light chuckle. "Well then, since you feel that way, and because of me, I guess you won't mind this then."

She looked up. His eyes were like ice. Cold and scary. She felt a shiver run up her spine. He looked frightening. "Mind what?"

Jerome leaned down and bit her neck. Hard. She flinched from the sudden pain and tried to pull away. But he wasn't having any of that.

Reaching down, he grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them above her head. He ran his tongue over the freshly bruised spot on her neck, and kissed it.

"Stop it!" Mara thrashed "What are you doing?"

He trailed his tongue across her throat. "Making you feel."

She felt another cold shock run through her. "What?"

His lips trailed upwards along her throat. "To make you feel more dirty."

"Wha-?"

The door knob jingled behind her, followed by Alfie's loud rapping.

"Jerome? Whats the deal with locking door, mate? I need to grab something. Jerome?" He knocked again.

Mara opened her mouth to call out, but Jerome slammed his lips on hers; forcing her to shut up. She squirmed against him. Alfie knocked a few more times, before swearing, and leaving. Mara's heart sank as she heard his retreating foot steps.

Jerome's tongue brushed the inside of her mouth, forcing her to react. She could feel him press his body full on to her's, as his other had came to slowly wrap around her waist.

Mara's heart pounded, a mixture of fear and something else. She could feel herself caving into him. Her eyes half closed. The feeling of his warm mouth on top of her's was incredible.

Slowly, she felt his grip loosen and slip away from her hands, until finally they were free. She brought one to rest on his chest while the other twisted in his hair.

Jerome broke away first, eyes hazy. He kissed her jaw. Then the her neck. Then her throat. Mara tiled her head back, her breathing heavy. She could feel her body quiver beneath him.

"Jerome." She pleaded, feeling him trail his kisses downwards, across her collar bone, and over her heart; tugging open her shirt as he did so. "Jerome, stop."

Her shirt was fully open now, and his lips burned on her bare skin. She flinched when she felt him kiss her exposed chest between her bra and go lower. She could feel her body reacting, and her legs wobbled. He was still going lower.

She groaned again as he slowly slid down, leaving butterfly kissing down her stomach. His hands were on her hips now, fingers pressing tightly in. He gently tugged her jeans lower, exposing her right hip bone. He kissed it, sending her body into overdrive.

That was all it took for her legs to give out, and Mara slid down the door. Jerome crawled above her, tilted her chin up, and captured her lips with his own. He ran a hand down her body, feeling her soft skin. She groaned again, and he pulled away. They were both panting.

Jerome's eyes were dark and clouded. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand. "You look beautiful." He muttered, bringing her palm to his lips "Flushed, disheveled, so bloody sexy. I want to devour you. Right here, right now."

Mara breathed, and covered her face with her hands. What was she doing. Why her? Why did it have to be him?

"No," Jerome parted her hands from her face "I want you to look at me. I want you to look at me when I kiss you, Mara."

She shook her head. "I can't, Jerome." She whispered "I have Brandon. No...I don't want to act like a, a..." Whore.

_Suddenly, she was flipped over and he was on top. Jerome's eyes glittered dangerously. "Stop it, Mara." He hissed "You're acting like a whore."_

"_What?" She asked, shocked by his words._

_He got off her. "You heard me, Mara. You are acting like a drunken whore. Coming to a man's room at night, kissing him, saying you want to be with him, when clearly you have a boyfriend." He crossed his arms "I wonder what the definition of that would be."_

She looked up at him. "You lied. We-we didn't sleep together. You lied, Jerome."

He crouched in front of her. "I never said we did, Mara. You assumed that all by yourself."

"You, you stopped me. Why?" She asked.

He looked at her, his gaze intense. "Do you like me, Mara?"

Her heart stopped. "What?" Another memory.

_Her head started to pound. "I don't know what to think anymore! I don't know if I hate you or if I like you!"_

No. No. This couldn't be happening. She didn't say that. Couldn't. Wouldn't. "W-what?"

"You heard me, Mara. I didn't stutter." His voice was like steel, his eyes were intense.

"I-I have a boyfriend." She argued, but he cut her off.

"That doesn't answer my question, Mara. Do you like me?"

"_Every time I think you've changed, that you might actually like me, that you might care for me, you do things to change my opinion. So tell me Jerome, what am I suppose to think? Should I like you or should I hate you?"_

She closed her eyes. She didn't want to answer she didn't want to think. She didn't want to feel. But he was there. He was everywhere. Invading her thoughts, invading her space. He was always there, bringing out her stronger side and invading her world. Making her think only of him. Making her yearn only of his touch.

She opened her eyes and looked directly into his awaiting ones. "Yes," She whispered "Yes, Jerome, I like you."

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! I wasn't going to update, but today's my BIRTHDAY (sobs at the thought of my oldness sniff sniff) Soooo, here's a mini chapter to fill you all's Jara needs! Please review! I want to hear all your thoughts and opinions! Enjoy!**

The silence was deafening. It was suffocating, and the longer it stretched, the harder Mara's heart thumped in her chest.

"You...like me?" Jerome finally asked in surprise, as if still believing the answer to his question.

She nodded.

"You're...you're not joking are you?"

She shook her head.

"That's, that's," Unexpectedly, a smile broke across his face. Not smirk, not a grin, not a sneer, but a genuine smile. It was dazzling and Mara was sure she had never seen it before. "That's brilliant."

He leaned in to kiss her but she put a hand over his mouth. "No."

He gave her a questioning look and she shook her head. "No, Jerome."

"Why?" He asked once she removed her hand "You just said you like me."

"Just because I like you, Jerome, does not mean that I will let you kiss me or go out with you."

"Why?" He asked again, watching her stand up "Why not?"

"Because," She said, buttening up her shirt "first of all, I have a boyfriend."

He gave her a blank look. "So?"

"So, I'm not breaking up with Brandon just because you kissed me, Jerome." Mara stated, fixing her shirt collar. "It won't be fair to him."

"You know what isn't fair, Mara?" He bristled, standing up "You dating one guy while you like another."

Mara shrugged. "Who says I don't like Brandon?"

"You did!" Jerome exasperated "When you told me you liked me!"

"No," She corrected "I never said I don't like Brandon. Liking you has nothing to do with liking Brandon."

Jerome stared at her. Really stared. "Are you serious?"

"Yes I am." She answered, patting her hair "I'm leaving." She turned to go but Jerome grabbed her wrist.

"Mara, that is the stupidest bull shit that I have ever heard. You can't like two people at once."

"How do you know?" She retorted, yanking her arm "It's not like you've experienced it before. Besides, I like Brandon. He's sweet and respects, and trusts me. Something you fail to do." She pulled again, but he held on.

"I wonder how much _Brandon_ would trust you, if he found out that you cheated on him with me." Jerome sneered.

Mara froze. "Are you, are you _threatening_ me?" She asked, appalled "For a drunken snog?"

He smirked. "Not for that, darling" he mocked, jerking her into him "I mean about what we did moment's ago." He traced his finger over the bruised spot on her neck "You weren't drunk now and kissed back. So what would he think?"

She stood very still, painfully aware of his finger gliding across her neck. What would Brandon think? Would he call her a slut? Would he be hurt, humiliated, ashamed? And what would she say? That it happened? That Jerome just kissed her out of no where and even though she told him to-

Mara smirked. A cold satisfying feeling curled in her chest. "Yes Jerome, you should tell him."

His fingers froze. "What?"

She looked up, the smirk still intact. "I said yes, Jerome. You can tell him. Tell him, and I can send you behind bars."

Jerome blinked. "What?"

"Oh yes, legally the stunt you pulled just now, I can take you to court for it." She purred "Because that counts as sexual harassment."

"What?" He uttered, taking a step back "No it doesn't. You complied."

"Oh did I?" Mara asked, crossing her arms "Because I clearly recall telling you to stop, which, you in fact ignored and continued kissing me. Even after my verbal protests. So, my dear Jerome, that counts as sexual harassment. So does the fact that you refused to let me leave when I wanted to and locked the door. Another discard of my verbal protest. Another harassment charge."

She leaned forward and smiled. "So the question is, Jerome, what would Brandon say after he finds out that you sexual harassed his girlfriend?"

He clenched his fist. "I didn't." He hissed "You complied. You kissed me back!"

Mara checked her nails. "So what? I might have kissed you back, but in technical and legal terms I didn't comply. I can legally file a restraining order against you." She looked up at him "Deny it all you want, but we both know I'm right. You can't change the law."

Jerome looked livid. Mara smiled. Good, he needed a dose of reality, of what his actions could potentially lead to. He needed to learn that.

"But you wont do it." He claimed "You wont do it. You don't have the guts to do it, to sully your precious School Representative's reputation."

"Really? Is that what you think?" She asked "That I won't do it? Stop thinking that I am a scared little girl, Jerome. Because filing a restraining order against you might just be the best thing for me. Keeping you always three hundred feet away from me? Sounds like a dream just now."

"You won't." He firmly replied "You can't."

"What makes you so sure?" She hissed, getting angry at his accusation"Because of my school Representative position? Ha! If I do, it would only make me seem more suitable for the job. That I'm neither afraid or ashamed to send people like you to jail!"

"Oh? People like me?" He bit out "Oh, do go on. I am positively _dying_ to hear more."

"Yes, Jerome, people like you. Annoying, cocky, self absorbed, _gits! _Who think that their actions have no consequences. Who enjoy toying with peoples emotions. Who are just fucking assholes!" Mara all but screamed.

"If that's the case, then why do you like me?" Jerome shot back "If I am one of those _assholes_, huh? Why Mara?"

"You know what, I actually don't know." She answered "Because you really are too much. And guess what? The part of me that did like you, dimmed even more just now."

"Fucking perfect." He spat.

"And you know what else? What's the real reason that I would never, in a million years go out with you, despite the fact if I liked you or not"

"No, do tell. I can't wait to know more about my personality." He jeered.

"Because you have never once proven to me that you truly cared about me. Never once have you given me a direct answer. So even if Brandon wasn't around, I still wouldn't give you my time. Because frankly, I don't trust you with my feeling."

"Proof? Proof? You want _proof, _Mara? I fucking brought your pissed arse back home from the party when your bleeding boyfriend abandoned you!" He shouted "How is that for your bloody proof?"

"That's not proof." She spat back "That a decency that any normal person would do, Jerome. Any! You're hot and cold. Hot and cold. One nice deed for five horrid words. Now tell me? How's that proof?" She unlocked the door and swung it open "And until you get act straightened up, my feeling will be walled up. You know how that is right? To hide behind an emotional traverse? Well, now I'm doing it from you." She slammed to door behind her, leaving him fuming.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone! Sorry about the LONG delay, but I was really busy and not dead. Thank you for all your wonderful reviews and a Merry Christmas to all and to all happy holidays! So here's a chapter to fill you all's Jara needs and Please review! I want to hear all your thoughts and opinions! Enjoy!**

"So, did you and Jerome have a fight, Mara?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Well..." Nina trailed off, staring at the massive space between the two "You seem to be sitting...far."

Mara shrugged and jellied her toast "Some people like their space."

"I guess, but still..."

"Good morning everybody!" Amber cheered, walking in to the dining room "Isn't it just a perfectly perfect Monday morning today?"

"It's Monday." Jerome answered flatly "There is nothing perfect about it."

"Oh pish posh." Amber waved, plopping down in the seat besides Patricia "You're just a grumpy puss, Jerome. Today is the first of may!"

"So?" Grumbled the grumpy puss "It's just another month, Amber, no big deal."

"It is so!" Insisted the blonde "It means spring is coming!"

"Is there even spring in England?" Nina pondered "Doesn't it rain like, ninety five percent of the time here?"

"Yes, but it's the other five percent that counts." Fabian said, smiling at his girlfriend "So, spring flowers?"

"More like spring cleaning." Trudy broke in from the kitchen. "You heard me children, it's cleaning time. And I know you boys have a lot of junk stored up in your rooms, so don't you roll your eyes at me!"

"Speaking of boys, where are Alfie and Mick?" Patrica inquired, picking up a bun "They are missing breakfast."

"Probably sleeping," Mara said, taking a bite of her toast "I haven't seen Mick around the whole weekend."

"Who hasn't seen me?" Mick asked, entering the room and plopping down in an empty seat.

"Mara obviously." Patricia buttered her bun "She claims that you were missing the whole weekend."

"Oh, well sorry Mars." He smiled sheepishly "I was over at my parents."

Mara raised an eyebrow. His parents? Really? "Is everything alright?"

"Sure," He said, dismissing the subject "Everything is fine. Ooo, muffin." He reached for one and Mara knew he was lying. He was lying. There was something definitely going on with him and his parents. Of course she wouldn't interfere, but she could still observe, couldn't she?

"Ok, well Mick's here. That only leaves Alfie. Amber, where is your boyfriend at?" Patricia asked, plucking an apple slice from the platter "Is he sleeping?"

"I don't know. Is he, Jerome?"

Jerome shrugged. "When I saw him last, yeah."

"And you didn't wake him?" Amber glared "That wasn't very nice."

"Didn't you hear, Amber?" Mara pipped up, sliding a glance at his direction "Jerome's not a nice person, are you Jerome?"

He held her gaze. "No, I am not."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly went chill, and Mara knew everyone felt it. She could sense the five pair of eyes watching them both o curiously, but she'd dare not look away from Jerome's steady gaze. Because that would mean defeat. And Mara was sure in hell was not going to lose to Jerome Clarke.

It was too much. The room seemed to compress, shrinking in size around them, suffocating. But still, they did not look away, that is, until Alfie waltzed in.

"Good moring, mates! What's the plan for today?"

And just like that, the strenuous bubble around the room seemed pop. Everyone visibly relax and Mara ripped her eyes away from Jerome to shoot Alfie a quick smile."Hey. Looks like you're finally up. What took you so long?"

Alfie shrugged and reached across the table for a croissant. "Dunno. Must have over slept, since s_omeone_ didn't wake me up." He pointedly looked at Jerome. "Thanks a bunch, mate."

Jerome shrugged and traced the top of his glass with his fingertip. "No problem."

"No really, thanks. Good to know I can depend on you to wake me up when there is hot breakfa-"

"Oh, sod off, Alfie!." Jerome snapped, glaring up at his roommate. "The last time I checked, I was not your bloody alarm clock nor your mum. If you want to get up on time, do it yourself."

There was dead silence instantly. Even Patricia looked shocked, her apple slice frozen midway in her mouth. It was Nina who broke it.

"Jerome," she sounded genuinely horrified at his behavior. "What's the matter with you today?"

"Nothing." He scrapped his chair back and got up "Absolutely nothing,"

"Well obviously it's something," Patricia commented "or else you wouldn't be acting like a class A prick."

"Oh?" He fired back "That's rich, coming from the class A _bitch_. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

Patricia shot out of her seat so fast, that the chair nearly tumbled backwards. _"Excuse me?" _she hissed, venom dripping off every word "Mind repeating that a second time?"

Jerome smirked. "Gladly. Disappointed to know though, that you are not only an ill tempered, quick judging, hot head, but deaf as well. So Sad."

"Why you!" She lunged for him across the table. "You're dead, you intolerable prick! I swear to god, when I get my hands on you I will rip your tongue out and shove it in Victor's bird!"

"Patricia!" Nina yelped, jumping up and grabbing the burgundy haired girl before she could cause any legal damage "Clam down! He's only yanking your chair." She glared at him. "Seriously, what is your problem, Jerome?"

"Nothing that concerns you, princess." Jerome mocked "So please, get off your high horse and stop sticking your nose in to everyone's business. Just because you sit at the head of the table, does not mean your prestigious little goody two shoes attitude can rein upon the rest of the house."

Nina looked as if she had been slapped, so of course Fabian came to her defense immediately, telling Jerome to back off, followed by Amber and Alfie joining in, and even Mick put in a word of protest in the quickly accelerating, pointless argument. Mara sighted and nibbled on her toast. She refused to say a word in this stupid fight, that was only really started because Jerome had pent up anger that needed releasing.

She took a sip of her juice and watched the now full brawl in action. Everybody was yelling, even Amber was muttering something to Alfie in a harsh whisper. She only prayed that somehow she wouldn't be dragged into the fight as well. She really had no time of this.

"Shut the hell up, Jerome!" Patricia yelled, finally breaking out of Nina's grip and grabbing Jerome by his tie. She yanked him forward and spat. "Just because you're having issues with Mara, dose not mean you can vent your anger on us!"

"Hey, don't get me involved in this mess." Mara finally pipped up, hoping to still stay neutral. "I have nothing to do with it." Of course. As always. Her plan backfired when every pair of eyes in the room turned to her.

"Oh really? I find that hard to believe, Mara." Patricia rolled her eyes. "From what I can tell, there is something going on between you and this idiot." She gave Jerome another tug on the word 'idiot'.

"I knew it!" Alfie exclaimed "Are you both secretly dating or something?"

"Wha-?" Mara started "We are no-"

"But doesn't that mean your cheating on your boyfriend?" Amber asked. "Because, that is so not cool."

"Amber, I am not cheating on Bran-"

"Wow, Mara's got a bad side. Who knew?" Patricia joined in "I guess some of your evil deeds have rubbed off on her, eh Romie?"

"Well Trixie," Jerome sugar coated, trying to pry the iron grip from his neck tie "it's not only me who's influencing her wicked side. I also hold her roommate accountable."

Patricia's eyes flashed. "Say that again, Romie?"

Jerome smirked. "Gladly."

"So, wait," Fabian interrupted "It was the roommate...and the boyfriend who caused the dark side to emerge?"

"No, the roommate and the SECERET boyfriend who caused the dark side to emerge." Nina corrected.

"Oh, right, the secret boyfriend." Fabian nodded "Who is unknown by the public boyfriend?"

"Precisely." Nina agreed "Nor known by the public itself, never mind the first boyfriend."

"Maybe he was never the first?"

"Could be true. The heart is a fickle thing."

"Hey." Mara glared at the debating couple "I'm still here, you know. And you can just _ask_ me about it rather than have a conference over it."

Nina blinked. "Well, yeah, we could. But then you'd just flat out lie/deny that anything is going on between the two of you."

"Nothing is going on between the two of us!"

"See, that's why we don't ask you."

"Urgh!" Mara grumbled "You all are impossible! I don't even know him that well!"

"Personally or biblically?" Jerome asked innocently.

She whirled at him. "Shut _up_! No one asked you!"

"Because," He continued, ignoring her "some can argue that."

"WHAT?" Both Patricia and Nina exclaimed at once, eyes wide. Patricia even let go of Jerome's tie. "No way!"

"Um, what does 'biblically' mean?" Amber asked. "Is it like, something holy?"

"No Amber," Alfie corrected, barely holding his laughter "it's the total opposite."

Mara could feel her face growing red. How on earth had this conversation turned a total 360 degrees around? "N-no! Nothing like that happened! Tell them Jerome!"

"Now, now, Mara." Jerome cooed, fixing his collar. "how can I lie to everyone?" His eyes glittered dangerously. "That would be wrong."

Her blood began to boil. "Shut up, Jerome. You know nothing of that sort happened!"

"I'm still confused! What is 'biblically' mean exactly?" Amber asked again. "Can someone please tell me?"

"It means Amber," Jerome's eyes trailed up Mara's neck and stopped over the tiny band aided spot "that Mara has a very peculiar injury area. What happened?"

That was the last straw, and before she knew it, Mara had grabbed the first thing closest to her, and flung it at him. The boiled egg hit Jerome square in the face and the sheer surprise of the assault had him tumbling back a few steps. The table went silent, everyone gaping at Mara's behavior.

"Didn't I tell you," She hissed out between clenched teeth "To shut your mouth?"

"And didn't I warn you," Jerome retaliated, wiping the egg from his cheek "to not throw food at me?"

"Or what, Jerome?" Mara taunted "You'll pelt me back with food? Please."

"Actually," He said grabbing a jelly donut "that was exactly what I was planning to do." With that, he hauled the jelly bomb toward her, except at the last minute, Mara dodged, and instead of hitting her, the donut hit Mick. It globed off his whit shirt in sticky pink chunks and Micks eyes flashed.

"Why, you!" He growled, picking up Patricia's buttered toast "You're dead, Clarke!"

"Hey, hey , hey," Jerome said, pushing his hands forth and eyeing the deadly piece of bread. "easy there, mate. To be fair, that was aimed for Mara, not you. No need to be hasty."

"I don't care, Clarke. It hit me not Mara, and you're still responsible." With that, Mick hurled the buttered madness at Jerome. Only, it didn't hit Jerome, instead it landed on Nina. It was like a deja vu moment, and the process continued on until the whole table erupted in a major food fight.

Mara watched as a grape flew by and smacked Patricia in the nose. While a flying croissant whacked Alfie on the head. She sighed as she felt something sticky collide with her head and scooted lower in her seat until she was half way under the table. Lightly, she fingered the glob in her hair and sniffed. Grape jam. Her hair was matted with grape jam and right before school started. Could her life possibly get any worse?

Apparently, it could, for the gods of bad luck answered when she heard Trudy's horrified. "What's going on here?" shriek, followed by a "We have a guest here." And right after that, an all too familiar voice mused, "wow, if this is how every Anubis mornings are, I wouldn't mind living here."

Mara closed her eyes and counted to ten. Brandon. What the hell was Brandon doing here and why, oh WHY, did he pick the only day she was covered in grape jam to come? Life really did stink at times.

"Hey," She heard her too caring boyfriend ask "where is Mara?"

"Right here." The said person answered, sticking her arm up out from under the table.

"Mara?" Brandon asked curiously. "Why are you under the table?"

"You know," Mara replied. "I was observing the floor tiles. Very...white. Oh, and I was also taking shelter from the breakfast war that was going on above."

"Oh really now?" She saw his feet moving closer and closer, until they stopped right in front of her. Her crouched down. "And here I was thinking that you were pretending to be a Hobbit."

"Hey," Mara concurred. "Hobbits are awesome"

Brandon laughed and shook his head. "Only you, Mara, only you."

"What? They are." She defended. "Stop laughing!"

"Sorry, sorry." Brandon chuckled. "But seeing you hiding under the table, covered in jam, and proclaiming Hobbits as 'awesome', is a very funny image."

She perked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"It just is." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Mmmm grape Mara." He pecked her cheek again.

"Brandon!" Mara squealed. "Stop that!"

"I can't," He kissed her again "you taste so good."

"Brandon," She said in mock seriousness. "cannibalism is frowned upon by most societies. So I'm sorry, but you can't eat me."

He gave her a slow smile. "True, but I _can_ kiss you, unless that too is frowned upon by most societies."

Mara smiled. "Mmm, I believe it's not."

"Good," He said, leaning in. "then I can kiss you all I want."

"Well, we'll see about that." She whispered back, leaning up to meet him.

"Hey!" A loud bang on the table jolted them apart. "Whatever you both are doing under the table right now, stop it. We have to go to school, not to mention Mara is a mess."

"Well," Brandon muttered after Patricia's interruption "that didn't go as planned. How unromantic."

"Brandon, there is _nothing_ romantic about kissing a jam covered girl under the table while her housemates get scolded by their den mother."

He kissed her nose. "I don't know. Something about hiding from evil den mothers and kissing during tense times has a romantic ring to it."

Mara laughed. "You're really strange, you know that?"

He flashed her a grin. "So I have been told."

"Mara! Why are you still under there?"

"We are coming!" She called up. "Come one, lets get out of here before someone pops a vein."

"Well..."

She smacked his arm playfully. "Don't say that! Now please move so I can crawl out."

"Sure, here, let me help you up." He reached down and gently took her hand, hoisting Mara up to her feet.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

He smiled back. "No problem."

"Awwwww!" Amber crooned. "Look at the cute couple! Mara, you are absolutely glowing, even if you are covered in sticky jam."

"I'm what? Oh, yeah, I am." She touched her hair. "Well, I guess there is no time for me to go shower and change, is there?"

"You're right there isn't!" Trudy scolded, "All of you are going to school like that as your punishment for having a food fight. And when you get back from school, this mess will be waiting here for you all to clean up."

"But," Patricia protested. "we look and smell horrid! Trudy, you can't possibly make us go to school like this!"

"I can and I will." Trudy answered firmly. "So this way you will all think twice before wasting food. Do you know how many children starve in the world? And here you all are, tossing food around like it's no big deal."

Nina peeled an egg off her hair. "I guess we deserve that for having a food fight."

"Yeah," Fabian nodded, handing his girlfriend a napkin. "we do."

"If we are really, _really_ sorry, then can we go change?" Amber asked hopefully. "Because we really are. Right guys?"

"Yeah! Really, really, really, sorry." Alfie joined in. "Please Trudy?"

"Please Trudy?" Patricia chorused. "Pretty please?"

"Do you think that will actually work on her?" Brandon whispered quietly in Mara's ear. "Because to me, it looks like she won't budge."

"Well, it's better than trying nothing." She whispered back. "Ugh, there's still some jam on my face."

"Here," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "Let me get that." Gently, Brandon too her face in his hands and began to wipe the excess jam. His touch was light, and Mara could feel her heart beat a little faster. And that's when she saw it, Jerome's blazing blue eyes, staring at them with such intensity, that it almost made her heart stop. He was watching them, watching how Brandon's fingers slowly curled in her hair, watching how close they were standing, and watching how relaxed she was to his touch.

Mara swallowed, a sudden queasy feeling bubbling up inside her. What was it? Guilt? Embarrassment? Anxiety? Was she really feeling bad about leading two guys one, one whom she rejected severely? But if that was the case, then why did look scorch her skin? Why did it make it seem like she was doing something horrible? She was only standing with her boyfriend, was that a crime too now? She shook her head. No, she would not think about it now. She was with Brandon and nothing was wrong with that.

"Mara?" Brandon's voice drifted her back to reality. She looked up to meet his green eyes, flecked with concern. "Are you all right? You spaced out a bit."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine. Just thinking a bit."

"For the last time, no. You will not change. School starts in five minutes, I think you should all best be on your way." Trudy finalized, staring hard at each one.

Brandon grabbed Mara's hand. "Well, I think that's our cue to leave. Come on, we don't want to be late." He tugged her along past Jerome and out the door way, and the whole time, Mara dared not meet his eyes.

* * *

School was...interesting. After their initial shock of seeing her enter the building with none other than the beloved Brandon Conroy, and seeing her purple stained uniform, the chatter died down. With that, Mara continued on with her daily routine, throwing away hate mail, cleaning out her locker, gather her books, going to classes, all the same. It only after she had left art, that things began to get strange.

First of all, she saw a bunch of new freshmen girls huddled in front of her locker, giggling like mad hyenas. They moved away when she went for her locker and traded her books. It was only when she shut her locker, that one of the girl's from the group approached her.

She was pretty. Big blue eyes, pink pouty lips, and shiny dirty blonde hair all reeked of innocence. Mara gave her a skeptical look.

"Can I help you?"

The new girl twiddled her thumbs nervously and looked up. "Hello, are you Mara Jaffary, the School Representative?"

Mara nodded. "Yes, I am. And who might you be?"

"Poppy. My name's poppy and my friends and I were wondering, if you know that boy over there?"

Mara followed Poppy's gaze and to her surprise, landed on Jerome. "Jerome?" She asked bewildered "Why do you want to know about Jerome?"

Poppy shuffled her legs and mumbled. "Well, he's quiet fit, isn't he? And my friends wanted to talk to him but didn't know his name." The girls behind her nodded vigorously.

"Well," Mara blinked. "He is not dangerous or taken. So go ahead?" And to her utter amazement, she saw the whole crowd of girls go approach him, once again giggling. All except Poppy, that is. Mara gave the tiny girl a puzzled look.

"Aren't you going to join them?"

Poppy shook her head. "There is someone else I fancy."

"Ah," Mara nodded, watching Jerome give the girls a dazzling smile. A tint of jealously rose inside her as she watched him chat with the girls, but she quickly squashed it back down. "He must be a lucky one."

"Uh, um, well, he doesn't really know that I fancy him, so yeah." Poppy turned a light shade of pink. "He is my childhood friend."

Mara watched as one of the girls flipped her hair back seductively at him, and Jerome caught a strand, letting it slowly slide between his fingertips. Another twing of jealously sparked within her, but again she pushed it down. Their eyes met from across the hall and she knew that he saw how his interaction with the girls made her feel. A tiny cruel smile stretched across his lips, and without breaking their eye contact, he leaned down and whispered in one of the girl's ear.

Mara turned away, the same queasy feeling from the morning coming back to her. Bastard. He was doing it on purpose, just to get back at her. How devious of him, but she would gladly return the favor. Just he wait.

"Um, school Representative, are you alright?" Poppy asked. "You look upset."

"I'm fine, Poppy." Mara muttered just as the bell rang. "But you and I should both go. The bell has already rung." With that, Mara turned and whisked past Jerome and his groupies all the way to History.

* * *

The rest of the day went by very slowly, and the Jerome incident from earlier had Mara in a foul mood, for reasons she still didn't understand why. So what if Jerome was hanging out with different girls? Hadn't she rejected him? Told him she couldn't trust him with her heart, her feelings? Then why on earth was that image of him whispering intimidatingly in that girl's ears forever imprinted in her memory? It was all very confusing, but Mara knew one thing, it made her blood boil.

She sighed and slumped back in her seat, eyeing the very slow moving clock. Five minutes. Five minutes till her last class ended and she was free to go back to the house.

She sighed again and stared out the window. It really didn't feel like spring was even here. May looked like January, January like December, and so on. Sometimes she wished she could go off to another country, where summer and spring were actual seasons, and the cold rain only fell on certain months. That would be nice, a perfect change in scenery from this dreary wet country.

Apparently getting lost in her thoughts was a perfect way to pass the time, for before she knew it, the final bell of the day rang loudly, indicating that the slow Monday had finally come to a closer.

Mara smiled as she gathered her books, thinking happily of the warm bath shed take as soon as she got home. She was so busy humming to herself that she nearly walked past her boyfriend.

Brandon smiled when he saw her almost skipping out of the classroom. "You look happy."

"I am. I can't wait to jump in the bath." Mara replied cheerfully. "Then I won't look and smell like grape jam."

Brandon laced his fingers through her's. "I still think you look and smell wonderful."

"Well, you only say that because you don't want your girlfriend to get mad at you." Mara laughed.

"Well, partially." Brandon mused as they walked down the hall "the other bigger half finds you very adorable." They stopped by her locker and Mara quickly tossed her books in.

"Why, thank you Mr. Conroy." She giggled, shutting the locker and leaning back on it. "I too find you quiet attractive."

He leaned his fore head against her's, his arms coming to rest at her waist. "Only a little bit?"

"Hmm, I don't know. You have to convince me otherwise." She replied, giving him a sly smile.

"Well," Brandon whispered huskily, slowly inching forward. "then I guess I have a lot of convincing to do."

"Mmhm." Mara nodded, melting into his warm kiss. His lips were soft, slowly caressing her's. His kiss was sweet, nothing like the ones she had experienced with Jerome, and it sent a warm glow to her heart. It felt...nice. Nice and sweet, like fresh honey on a warm toast, and Mara enjoyed every bit of it.

They were really getting into the kiss, when a loud slam jarred them apart. Startled, Mara turned to see Jerome standing by his locker, glaring daggers at their direction. And just like that, all her happy mood fizzed away and the image from his fan girl encounter came flashing back through her mind.

She smirked, her foul mood returning. It was the perfect time for her revenge.

Without a second thought, she grabbed Brandon by the shirt and pulled him into a fierce kiss. If Brandon was surprised by her sudden action, he didn't show it. Instead he responded with equal force, crunching their lips together in a passionate lip lock. A heart beat after that, while still in lip lock, Mara opened her eyes to Meet Jerome's. She held his gaze for a minute, watching how his eyes flicked through many emotions. Anger, sadness, guilt, anger, longing, and anger once again. She smiled through the kiss and closed her eyes. The next time she opened them, Jerome wasn't there anymore.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello everyone! First of all, a very happy and belated new year! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I know I did writing it! Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews and please don't forget to do so for this chapter. I want to hear all your opinions. Enjoy!**

"Ok, seriously. Why are you so glum? I can not have glum workers on the job, you know. Bad for business." Lucy demanded, placing her hands on her hips and shooting her a narrowed eye look. "So out with it!"

Mara sighed and leaned on the counter. Should she really tell Luce about her...little problem? Would it really even make any sense? But it would be nice to finally talk to someone about it, rather than holding it all in..."It's about...my relationship."

"Oh?" Her boss asked, hopping up to sit on the counter. "Trouble in paradise? Want me to knock some sense into him? I do have a Cricket bat that is itching to be used."

"What? No!" Mara cried, eyes wide. "Everything is fine and I don't need you blundering Brandon with a Cricket-wait, you play Cricket? Since when?"

The redhead just shrugged. "Since I was little. And if everything is ok, as you claim, then why so glum? Is he not what you expected to be? I mean, you have only been dating the boy for a week. Give it time."

"No, no, it's nothing like that, Luce." She muttered. "Brandon is wonderful. He's sweet and kind and very understanding. It's just..."

"You're not happy?"

"Oh no, I'm not saying I'm sad, but..."

"But you're not happy either." Lucy finished, eyeing Mara in understanding. "Let me ask you this then. Are you content with him? What happens when you kiss him, or hug him?"

"Well, I don't know. I mean, I like his kisses. They are sweet and they are nice. But there isn't, you know, a spark." She blushed and looked down. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm being whiny and ungrateful for having such a good boy as my boyfriend. Forget it."

"Oh, no, no, no." Lucy quickly injected, waving her hand. "I don't think that at all. Yes, Brandon is great and yes, he is wonderful, but if YOU don't really like him, than it's rather unfair to date him, don't you think? For you as well as him."

"But I do like him." Mara argued. "I care about him a lot, and his kisses make me feel happy. I mean, there isn't anything particularly wrong with our relationship." Minus the hate mail that is.

"So then, what's the problem?"

"I-I don't know. It's really weird, but I can't seem to put a finger on it." Mara dropped her head on the counter. "I'm a horrible girlfriend."

Lucy was quiet for a moment. "Mara, you said there wasn't a 'spark' when you both kiss and you are not in the giddy honeymoon phase that SOMEONE STILL NEEDS TO GET OVER. LARRY, GET OFF THE PHONE AND START WORKING!" She hollered to the back and turned to face Mara again. "Are you by any chance, comparing Brandon to another boy? Your ex, maybe?"

"What!" Mara jolted up. "No! No, I'm not, not to Mick."

Lucy just stared at her. "Then to who?"

Jerome she though, but quickly shook her head. "Nobody."

"You're a horrible liar, Mara." Lucy mused mischievously "Tell me who this 'nobody' is. Is he fit?"

Very. "He's, one of my roommates and is a total prick!"

"Oh? I didn't know that bad boys were your type, Mara." Lucy giggled "I guess every gal needs to have one at some point in her life, I suppose."

"No, they are not. I like nice boys. Not boys who pull pranks, cause mischief, and are rule breakers! Not to mention, stir up trouble for fun and laugh at other people's expense, no matter what the cost."

"Uh huh. And you DON'T fancy this boy? Is that correct?"

Mara tugged her ponytail. "Well, I do. Maybe a little." At Luce's smug look she quickly added. "But it doesn't change the fact that he is a total arse and does whatever he pleases, without knowing the consequences of his actions. And I can't trust him with my feelings."

"Well, why not?"

"Because," She closed her eyes. "he hurt me."

Lucy straightened up. "Excuse me? Hurt you how?" Her voice had an edge to it. "Because I will beat him with my bat."

Mara laughed, despite herself. The image of Luce beating Jerome up with a Cricket bat was too funny. "Oh, nothing physical. Just, he said some things and yeah."

Lucy visibly relaxed. "Oh. Well, I'm not saying its ok for him to be a jerk to you, but yeah. So you really fancy him then?"

"No! Well, not a lot. I think it will pass."

"Hmm, well how does it feel when you snog him? Like Brandon?"

"Hey, who said that I snogged him?" Mara asked a bit defensively.

"Oh, please Mara. It's written all over your face. Now answer my question please. How does he make you feel?"

She sighed. Lucy could be quite relentless when she wanted to be. "Well, when I kiss him, there is this hot spark. Like my body is in flames and I can feel my heart pulsing everywhere. And when he looks at me, well, I feel hot under his gaze."

"Uh huh. And what about girls?"

Mara blinked. "Girls?" What did Luce mean by girls? Wasn't it established that she was into boys not girls? She did have a boyfriend now.

"I mean, how do you feel when girls are around him, I'm assuming he's attractive, you do go for the fit looking boys, Mara. No offense."

She thought back to Jerome's fan girl encounter. Just the thought of him touching that girl had her blood boiling. "It makes me mad. Or angry. Or upset?"

"Or jealous?" Lucy put in helpfully. "Mara you are jealous."

"What? No I'm-"

"Mara!" Lucy placed her own hand atop her's. "You are jealous when other girls are around him. Admit it."

"But they are all first years!" She protested "How can I be jealous of younger girls?"

"You just can. And you are." Luce gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "But it's ok to be jealous. It's a normal emotion."

Mara looked down at Lucy's hand that was resting on her own. She had hot pink stars sprinkled all over her nails. "No it's not."

"It's not what?"

She looked up at the redhead. "It's not ok to be jealous. I-my ugly side comes out when I'm jealous, Lucy. I almost got a teacher fired last term because of my stupid girly hormones acting up. Granted I stopped it, but I did hurt some people and almost caused a huge misunderstanding. I don;t want to do that again. Not to Brandon especially."

Lucy nodded sympathetically. "Well as long as you don't use Brandon to make the other boy jealous or anything, it's all good-Mara why are you turning pale? Please don't tell me you did that."

She buried her face in her hands. "I didn't think about it at the time, but now, I think I did! Oh Lucy, I'm a terrible person!" She felt horrible. She had done the one thing she hated, being used, and did the same thing that Jerome did, to Brandon. And for what? Her jealousy? Her revenge? Her ego? Jealousy did bring out her ugly side.

"Hey, hey , hey." Lucy soothed. "It was a mistake, alright? And now you know it's a mistake. You took responsibility for it and won't do it again. But Mara, if you really don't fancy Brandon in that way, you shouldn't date him. It's not fair to the poor boy that every time he snogs you, you think about someone else."

"But I don't. Not really. I can connect with Brandon. With the other boy, I think I only like him for his kisses, not rationally."

"Well, whether it be rational or physical, you want him. More than your own boyfriend." She hopped off the counter and asked. "Tell me, do you get jealous when other girls surround Brandon? Flirt with him? Talk with him?"

Mara shook her head and Lucy smiled. "Well, there's your answer then, Mara. Brandon might be absolutely perfect, but it's the imperfect one that your heart, or your body, wants. Now don't look so glum. A customer just walked in. Smile!"

* * *

_We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. _

"My heart (or body) want's the imperfect one?" Mara muttered, tracing the engraved words with her fingers. She was back, yet again standing in front of marble wall, thinking about her distraught love life. It was really becoming a habit, but the park calmed her still. Even at night.

She sighed and plopped down on the bench; Lucy's words still ringing in her head. It was true, she admitted, that she was jealous when other girls surrounded Jerome, or when he flirted with them, and it was also true that she wasn't, when the same thing happened with her own boyfriend. Was it because he was popular, that it was so normal for Brandon to get so much attention and Mara was used to it? Or was it because she was comfortable with him being surrounded by girls, because she knew he only liked her?

All sounded like good options, but then came the question of how he made her feel.

It was true that Brandon was kind and gentle, his kisses sweet and tender. But Jerome...Jerome just made her _feel_. His kisses were scorching hot and his touch sent her body into overdrive, and Mara knew, she _knew_, that it was only a physical need. That there was no deeper connection, no emotional bond, no relationship spark. Because it was Jerome, and Jerome wasn't the relationship type.

But Mara was. She wasn't the type of girl that would screw around with anyone for a one time thing, nor was she the type to chase after someone for her hormonal needs. No. She was a rational and emotional person, and wanted to be with someone who would cherish her, care for her, and respect her. Someone who she could have endless conversations with, and spill her heart's desires to, someone she could trust herself to. And Jerome wasn't the one.

Yet despite herself, Mara wondered what it would feel like to be in a relationship with him. Jerome wasn't dumb or stupid, nor was he careless, that Mara knew for a fact. He was quite smart, his intelligence almost rivaling her own, and was sharp beyond belief. There was a reason why most of his stunts went around uncaught; he was careful. Very careful when he needed to be. So despite what other people thought about him or what he wanted them to think about him, she knew his attributes very well. So maybe there could be a connection if they-

She stood up and shook her head. No way! What was she thinking! There was no way, at all, that Mara would ever do that. It was like leaping into the ocean without a life jacket, no chance of making out alive. She sighed and closed her eyes. Brandon was perfect, everything she wanted in a guy and more, but she wasn't content with him.

He wasn't the one that her body craved, wasn't the one that got her blood flowing, but he was perfect. She couldn't let him go, shouldn't let him go, he had done nothing wrong. Some might even say she was selfish for not being happy for what she was given, but it wasn't fair. Not to him. Never to him. He didn't deserve to be treated like the second best, the rebound guy who got compared to the first one.

Lucy was absolutely right. It wasn't fair. To either one of them. You couldn't force yourself to be happy when you didn't want to be, Mara knew that from experience, but to chain someone to you and do the same to them? Impossible.

Mara's eyes fluttered open to the starless sky. The imperfect one. She liked the broken one, the doll that had a kink in it. She smiled. How surprising. Maybe broken things drew one another in, maybe that's why a part of her was so drawn to Jerome. Because once upon a time she was a broken doll too.

Glancing back at the marble memorial one final time, she slowly made her way back to the Anubis house. There was a lot of things that were muddy still, but one thing was clear.

She had to break up with Brandon.

* * *

Breaking up with Brandon was easier said than done, especially when he was being such a good boyfriend. First he had come to the Anubis house and walked her to school, then he had taken the heat off of her in physics class, when Mr. Jillian kept bombarding her with questions, and then he had walk her to her next class; even giving her a sweet peck for a goodbye. Not only that, but he had also promised to pick her up from work and apologized for not doing so yesterday; he had a game. That boy was really doing a great job of making the breakup as hard as possible, even if he wasn't aware of it.

Mara sighed and crinkled the file in her hand. Why did she always end up as being the errand girl for her teachers between class periods? You would think that out of the many people that went to this school, someone else could take a message once in a while. She had other problems to deal with on her plate, namely the a certain dirty blonde haired boy who was doing a very good job of avoiding her.

Not that she cared though. Much, anyways. But because that boy was the root cause of all her major problems, she kinda had to care. Great, even when Jerome was not trying to get her attention, he got it anyways.

The second late bell had already rung, making the busy hallway, scarce. She walked slowly, remembering what happened the last time she was alone in an empty hallway. Unconsciously, she touched her lips, the vivid memory coming back to her like vision. The kiss, the touch, the whispers...And just like that her thoughts snapped when she heard a couple of voices arguing.

"You should be in class!"

"Yeah, whatever. So should you."

"I'm serious, Eddie! What if I call your mum and tell her about your stupid behavior!"

"Don't tell my _mom,_ anything, Poppy. And why are you even here? Go bother someone else for a change."

"I wont!"

"Hey," Mara said, rounding the corner "What's going on here?" What she came across was none other than Eddie, siting propped against the wall with his head phones on, while a very flustered looking Poppy loomed above. They both turned to stare at Mara when she spoke; Poppy even turning a bit red.

"School representative," the younger girl sputtered "what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you both the same thing." Mara replied, holding up her file. "Shouldn't you both be in class?" She eyed Eddie distastefully. Although she didn't know much about the boy, the one encounter with him on Friday's party had her very wary.

"Well Miss Rep," The American rebel propped his chin on his knee. "we should be. Doesn't mean we want to be."

"Well you do. And besides, what are you doing sitting in the middle of the hallway? If you are trying to ditch, do it in a more subtle manner."

Eddie shrugged and popped his headphones back on. "I'm not trying to be subtle. I'm giving out a message."

Mara raised an eyebrow. "About?"

"That I really hate math." He grinned at her. "Now please, if you are not going to do anything, go away. And take that pint sized annoyance with you." He said, referring to Poppy, who looked just about ready to explode.

Mara watched in awe as she stomped toward him, yanked off his head phones, and yelled at him some more. This was not the same shy girl she met yesterday.

"Eddison, I swear to god, if you don't get your arse up and go to class, I will call your mum and tell her you're skipping again!"

"Gee, Poppy. Was using my full name really necessary?" He rolled his eyes "And besides, why are you so deadest on me going to class? Like I said, I hate math. So let me listen to my music in peace and try to forget this stupid school. Ok? ok."

"No, it's not ok!" Poppy shot back, glaring at the dark blonde haired boy "Your mum sent you here to break your bad habit of skipping class, and what do you do? Skip classe! You've only been here a couple of months and already it has started."

"Oh, fuck off Poppy." Eddie groaned "I still blame you for always talking about this place so that my mom sent me here. Your fault."

"Is not!"

"Is too."

"Um, excuse me." Mara politely interrupted, staring at the two people "But how exactly do you know one another?"

Eddie smirked. "Well you see, it's really none of your business. But it you really wanna know, we were star crossed lovers, torn apart by countries-OW! Geez Poppy, you hit like a guy!"

"Oh, stop talking rubbish." Poppy scolded and turned to Mara. "We have known each other since we were little. My mum's best girl friend lived in America, and so every summer and other holidays we visited and rented the beach house next to her's. And Eddie happened to be her son, although I do wonder some times, since he only inherited his mum's looks and nothing else!"

She glared at him again. He smirked. Mara blinked. "So...you're childhood friend?" She asked Poppy tenderly, knowing very well the double meaning behind her words. Poppy's childhood friend, the one she had a crush on, it was Eddie? How was that even possible? But then again, a lot of things involving love had been impossible. Prime I.E, herself.

Poppy gave a slight nod and blushed. "Sad to say, it's true."

"Whatever, Pops," Eddie stretched "I'm still not going back to class. Take it or leave it. And by the way, aren't you also missing your class too? How is that for irony?"

Poppy stomped her foot. "Eddie! You-I, ugh! You're impossible!"

He closed his eyes and smiled, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning on the wall. "That's my name. Don't wear it out."

"Ugh! Mara can you do something to make him go to class?" Poppy pleaded, facing Mara. "You are the school representative. That accounts for something, right?"

Mara shrugged helplessly. "The only thing I can do, is report him to Victor, and believe me, I don't think you want that."

Eddie cracked an eye open. "So let me get this straight. Being the School Representative is like being the Queen, only for show with out having any official power? Like a puppet? Talk about rough."

Mara flushed. "Don't talk about our Queen like that."

He grinned. "Another thing about you Brits, so protective of your Queen, other than the odd dialect. Like who says rubbish anymore? And snogging? That just sounds plain bad."

"Oh yeah? What about you Americans with your crude sense of humor and fattening foods?" A new voice spoke up. All three turned to see, no other than Patricia marching towards them. "I can say a few things about your 'dialect' too, so shut it."

"Patricia," Mara asked, staring at her roommate "what are you doing here?"

"I'm the messenger sent to fetch you." She answered "Since you were taking abnormally long to give in a file, the teacher got worried. Now I see why." She kicked Eddies sneakers. "Nice shoes. Very rebel boy precise."

"Nice fishnets," Eddie retorted "very prostitute precise, especially when put together with that short skirt. Congrats."

Patricia's eyes flashed. "Say that again, I dare you."

Eddie smirked. "No thanks. One compliment per day, Trishie."

"Of course. All you American's have nothing better to do besides going against society and get fat. No wonder nothing good comes out of you all's mouths." Patricia spat. "Mara, hurry up and get to class, and be sure to leave this garbage behind."She turned around and starting walking the way she came.

"Love you too!" Eddie hollered after her, to which she responded giving him the reverse peace sign.

He chuckled as he watched her round the corner. "Did she really just flip me off in Brit style?" When Poppy nodded, he leaned back once more and muttered. "She's hot."

That was the cue Mara needed to scurry away.

* * *

"I can't believe the nerve of that guy!" Patricia grumbled, setting the dinner plates down "Calling me a bloody prostitute! Who the hell does he think he is?"

Mara shrugged and put the spoons out. "A rebel American boy?"

"This is why I hate Americans!"

"Hey, don't be hating on Americans." Nina said, walking in "I thought we were bonding."

Patricia sighed. "Not you Nina, this new boy. What was his name Mara?"

"Eddie."

"Yeah, Eddie. He called me a prostitute."

Nina's eyebrows shot up. "Whoa, really? That's a bit harsh."

"I know! But whatever. Mara call down all the people for dinner."

Mara blinked. "Why me?"

"Because you are the closest to the door and Nina and I will be helping Trudy set dinner."

"But-"

"No buts! All you have to do and knock on two doors, now shoo!" Patrica waved her off, going into the kitchen.

Mara sighed and stated walking down the hall. First door up was Fabian and Mick's. She knocked.

"Guys, dinner is ready!" Two muffled voices answered in response. She smiled. Next up was going up stairs to Nina and Amber's rooms to call the blonde beauty out. But when she got to the door, she heard a high pitched shriek, followed by Alfie's laughter.

She poked her head through the door. It was Alfie and Amber...painting their nails? What?

"Um, guys, not to interrupt, your, um, activity, but dinner is set."

"Oh ok, thanks Mara." Amber smiled "Alfie Lewis, if you think you can get away with doing only three nails, you are dead wrong!"

"But Amber!" Alfie whined to his girlfriend. "Men don't wear hot pink nail polish!"

"Well, too bad!"

Mara giggled and left the arguing couple to their company. Now for the last door. Jerome and Alfie's room, but since Alfie was with Amber; it would only be Jerome. She took a deep breath in and marched towards his door.

Standing in front of it, she reached out to knock, when the door flung open and she came face to face with Jerome. Both of them froze, Mara with her hand raised ready to knock and Jerome just staring down at her.

Mara broke the silence first. "I was just about to knock and call you down for dinner."

He stayed silent, as if waiting for her to say more and Mara felt herself grow awkward.

"Well, that's all." She muttered at last, turning to go.

"Wait! Mara." Jerome reached out and grabbed her arm. "I have something to say."

Her eyes landed on his grip on her arm and she looked back up at him. He let go in a flash, probably remembering the last conversation they had about him touching her so freely. "Yes? I'm listening."

He ran a hand through his hair. He was nervous. "I just wanted to say, I'll try."

She stared at him. "Try?"

Jerome sighed and looked at her straight in the eyes. "I hate when you're with him, Mara. I hate when he touches you, hate when you laugh with him, and _hate_ when he kisses you. It drives me bloody insane."

Mara was quiet, her heartbeat slowly thudding faster with his every word, waiting for him to go on.

"I know he is so fucking perfect, the dream boyfriend that every little girl wants, and I know that you trust him. But Mara, if you give me a chance, I'll try to be better. I'll prove myself to you."

He gave her an almost scared, desperate kind of look; his blue eyes shining with a tiny sliver of hope. A crack in his armor. "I'll try Mara. I'll try to make you trust me with your feelings. I promise."

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello everyone! No I'm not dead and yes I know it has been SO long since I updated. But frett not, I am back! (Thank you summer vacation) Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews and I am sorry for not responding back. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it please don't forget to review this chapter. I want to hear all your opinions. Enjoy!**

"So, what happened?"

"He said he'd try."

"Which one?

"Not the boyfriend."

"I thought you were going to dump Brandon?"

"Break up, not dump. And yes, yes I was."

"And?"

"Complications happened."

"Uh huh…"

"Yeah…"

"So, he said he'd try?"

"Yes."

"For the better?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"I shot him down."

"You what?" Lucy exclaimed, catching half the people's attention in the café "Are you serious?"

"Lucy, shhh!" Mara whispered harshly at the older girl "You're disturbing the customers."

"Oh, sorry, sorry," the redhead waved aimlessly off "but really Mara, have you gone bonkers? You shot him down? After the guy just told you he'd change for the better?"

"He said he'd _try_, Lucy." Mara reminded her "Doesn't mean he's going to do it."

"But at least he said he _would _try. Why didn't you give him a chance, at least? Before you shot him down? Unless…you aren't planning on breaking up with Brandon, in that case, bad Mara! Very bad Mara!"

Mara rolled her eyes. "Relax Lucy, I am going to break up with him, and I didn't exactly shoot him down…"

Lucy perked an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that right?"

"Yeah," Mara hesitated "I kind of, sort of, backed away slowly and shook my head." She finished lamely.

Lucy shook her head. "Oh Mara…"

"Don't judge me," The raven haired girl defended "I panicked. Besides, it's pointless."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I have no intention of going out with him!"

"…Why?"

Mara sighed. "It's…complicated."

"A lot of things seem to be complicated with you, Mara." Lucy commented dryly just as the front door bell jingled. "Oh look, a customer! Smile!"

Mara sighed and plastered a smile on her face. "Hello, welcome to Java Bean, how may I take your order?"

"School rep?"

Her smile faltered a bit. Why did everyone from her school insist on coming here? There were tons of other cafés around here too. Why was it always The Java Bean? "Hello, Eddie, what would you like to order?"

Eddie blinked. "You work here?"

"Obviously." Mara answered tonelessly "Why else would I wear the shop uniform and ask for your order?"

"Hey, no need to be testy." Eddie smirked "Not my fault you're stuck working in a dingy café while the rest of us enjoy our freedom."

"Speaking of freedom, don't you have detention today? Why are you here?" Mara asked suspiciously "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Eddie shrugged. "Because I want to be?"

"But-"

"Nuh uh uh," He cut her off "You're not in school, which means your authority doesn't work around here, Miss Jaffray. Which means…" He plucked a cookie off the glass pedestal "you can't send me back. I win."

"Hey! Give that back! It's for paying customers only!" She cried, reaching for the cookie, but Eddie pulled it out of her reach. "I'm serious, Eddie. It's no joke." He mockingly took a bite out of the cookie. "Eddie!"

"Swoory" He muffled out with a mouthful "My bad."

Mara glared at him. "I hope you know that cookie will cost you £1.99. And you better pay up. Now."

"Geez, Ms. Rep, why you gotta be so uptight? I was going to pay for the cookie, along with my cup of espresso." He gave her a cheeky look. "Which, you should be getting me right about…now. And hold the milk; I like my coffee extra strong."

"I know something else you'd like strong too." Mara muttered darkly, pulling out a cardboard cup. "My foot up your arse."

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing!" She chirped, with false cheerfulness, slamming his coffee on the counter. "Here is you coffee. That'll be £5.99, sir."

"Wow, I even get a 'sir' this time." Eddie commented, digging in his back pocket. He shoved some bills out and tossed them on the counter. "You must _really_ want me gone."

Mara picked up the crumpled bills and put them in her register. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Here's your change. Have a nice day."

Eddie smirked. "So that's how it's gonna be, eh miss rep? Heh, fine by me."

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Lucy asked, suddenly popping up besides Mara "Your friend, Mara?"

"Hardly," the younger girl responded dryly "just your typical rebel in the making."

"Ooooo!" Lucy clapped "A rebel, how exciting. You don't see much of them around anymore. Just some wishy-washy drug addicts."

"Did you just compare me to a drug addict?"

"And he has a cute American accent too!" She squealed "Mara, why didn't you tell me he was American?"

Mara blinked. "Because it never came up?" Where on earth was Lucy going with this?

Eddie cocked his head to the side in confusion. "You were talking about me?"

"What? No." She answered baffled. What was going on? "Why would I talk about you to my _boss_, of all people?"

"But I thought he was…" Lucy trailed off, giving her a pointed look.

Mara's eyes widened. "Him? What? No! He's not!"

"He's not?"

"I'm not?"

"He's not." Mara repeated firmly; shooting a look at Eddie's direction. How could Lucy possibly even think Eddie was Jerome? She was talking about? Granted, they both had a troublesome air about them, but still! Eddie? Please!

"Okkkk, then." Eddie between the two girls. "I seriously have no idea what I have just walked into, but I think I'll leave. Gotta head back before Sweet notices I'm gone." He gave  
Lucy a once over "Nice shirt. Love the Beatles. One of the greatest bands in history." And then he was gone.

As soon as Eddie walked out the door, Lucy whirled at her. "How do you attract so many fit guys, Mara? Huh? Tell me! Is it your intellect? Looks? Hair? Charm? Do you know how many girls would be dying to get into your shoes?"

"Um, I don't know what you're talking about, Lucy." Mara answered, fixing her hat "I don't attract fit guys."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Mara. Fit boys are like bees to honey with you. You have four attractive boys fallen into your smarty web. Your ex-boyfriend, your current boyfriend, your soon-to-be-but-not-quite-there-trying boyfriend, and this American. Clearly you are doing something right in the world to have this much luck."

Mara's cheeks burned. "Thank you…I think?" She awkwardly muttered out "But Eddie is not someone who I have any interest in, romantic or otherwise. And I'm pretty sure he feels the exact same way."

"Uh, huh." Lucy's eyes twinkled mischievously "So you say now. But very soon you'll see he will fall for you. And then I can have gloating rights. Hehe"

Mara threw a straw at her head.

* * *

"So, how was work today?" Brandon's fingers were cool on her hand in the crisp night air "busy?"

Mara shrugged. "Not really. It was a Wednesday. Dead day."

"Ah, I see. So nothing interesting?"

"Well, actually something did happen. Eddie popped in for a quick snack."

Brandon's brows furrowed. "Eddie? Didn't he have a detention after school for cutting class with Mr. Sweet?"

"Yup, he sure did. I guess he was skipping." A cold gust of wind made her shiver, and Mara snuggled even more into her coat. May sure felt more like winter than the start of spring.

"You cold?" He asked , looping an arm around her shoulder and nestling her to his side . "I could have brought my car, you know."

Mara bit her bottom lip. How was she ever going to break up with him when he was always being so considerate 0of her. The guilt would be hard on her conscious. "No, I'm fine." She took a deep breath in. It was now or never. "Listen Brandon, I-"

"Wait, before you start, I have something to ask you." Brandon politely interrupted. "I've been meaning to ask you since the beginning of the week, but I kept getting caught by other things. So, Mara Jaffray, would you graciously accept a dinner invitation for this Friday with my family? My parents are eager to meet you and Asiling is bouncing off the walls, as usual."

She stared. "Dinner?"

"Yes."

"With your parents."

"Yes…"

"This Friday?"

"Yes..? Mara are you ok? You're acting very strange."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She answered "And dinner would be gre-" No, she couldn't let this go on. It already had been for too long, and if she agreed to a dinner with his family…well, the web of lies would grow even bigger. "Actually, No. No Brandon I can't accept your dinner invitation for Friday."

Brandon stopped walking, jerking her to an abrupt stop as well. "Oh, are you busy on Friday?"

Mara shook her head and gently pulled away from him. "No, that's not why."

"Well, then you don't want to meet my parents? Or is it Asiling? I know she can be…a bit much."

She shook her head again and watched as realization dawned upon his features. It was like watching a car crash slowly happen. His face contorted into a slight shock that turned into confusion, and finally a blank mask of understanding.

"Oh." He said numbly. "I see."

"Brandon," Mara reached for him but he pulled away "I'm sorry."

"Don't." He said, backing up and shaking his head. "Just, don't Mara. It's hard enough getting dumped without explanation, but apologizing for doing it, makes me look even more pathetic." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Just tell me one thing, Mara," Brandon asked, finally looking at her "why did you ever agree to go out with me? Did you even like me?"

"Of course I liked you." Mara protested "I never said I didn't-"

"You never said you did either." He added ruefully "But whatever, I'm used to it. I just didn't expect you to be one of those girls."

"Excuse me?" Mara blinked "What?"

"You know what." Brandon shrugged "After popularity. Dating for popularity."

"Dating for popularity…Are you insane? How can you even think I would-"

"Well what am I supposed to think, Mara?" He retorted back sharply. "When a girl I like suddenly want's to dump me without a reason or an explanation? Especially when, as I saw it, nothing was going wrong in our relationship!"

A gust of wind pulled angrily at her hair, but Mara's eyes were steely. "You didn't even give me a chance to properly explain it! And for your information, I was never after your "popularity". The only thing that got me was locker full of hate mail from your fan girls."

"Well-wait what? You were being harassed by other girls? Why didn't you tell me?"

Mara crossed her arms. "There was nothing to tell. But that's besides the point."

He took a step closer. "No it's not. Why didn't you tell me, Mara?"

"Because it wasn't such a big deal. All they did was write 'break up with him' or 'you're no good for him' or 'I hate you' and stuck it into my locker. No big deal."

Brandon just stated at her and she sighed. "Look, it wasn't and that is not the reason I'm breaking up with you. I-I think I like someone else and it wouldn't be fair to you if we when out while I liked someone else."

"Great, so this whole time you were with me, you thought about another guy. Thanks Mara, no really thank you." Brandon spat out.

"It wasn't like that. I just recently put two and two together and-"

"Broke up with me." He finished. "I know."

"So," Mara asked, as howl of wind blew in between the two "what happens now?"

"Nothing." Brandon shrugged "And everything. We go on with our lives, as usual."

She nodded. "As usual."

They stated at each other in silence until Brandon spoke up. "I guess I better be going. See you in school." With that, he swiftly turned around and started walking the way they came, smashing all of Mara's hopes that he was ok with their break up.

* * *

"You're home early." Patricia commented when Mara walked in through the front door "didn't stop to gaze at the trees today?"

"Oh step off it, Patricia." Joy commented "Can't you see she's not feeling well."

"Thanks Joy." Mara sluggish replied, stomping up the stairs "I'm glad someone in this house is observant." She froze in mid step and whirled to face the two best friends on the sofa. "Wait, what are you doing here Joy?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you, Mara?" Patricia smiled "Joy's living with us now. She's sharing our room."

"Oh." Mara answered "Well, that's…nice."

"Isn't it? Finally things can go back to normal. By the way, did Brandon walk you home?" Patricia inquired, flicking a popcorn in the air and catching it with her mouth.

Mara swallowed. "Not…exactly."

"What do you mean?" Joy asked, elbowing Patricia for munching too loudly "Did you walk by yourself?"

"Yes and no."

"Did he walk you half way?"

She nodded, and before Joy could further question her on what happen, she was saved by a very angry looking Amber walking into the living room; followed by a very weary looking Alfie.

"Amber, I told you, I don't fancy Volietta Kingsly!"

"Well why else would you be flirting with that bottle blonde right in front of me!"

"I wasn't! She asked for our math notes."

Amber whirled at him. "And since when do you take notes, Alfie Lewis?"

"I don't!"

"Exactly!"

"Wow," Joy murmured, watching the fighting couple "I guess no perfect couples exist, huh? Thank god you and Brandon aren't like that."

"Yeah." Mara stuttered out. She felt like she was going to be sick. The guilt of her break up with Brandon was gnawing on her conscious. "I think I'm going to go."

And like always, as soon as she turned to go, she bumped into the one person she didn't want to see. She squeaked as she felt herself stumble back, and would have, if it weren't for Jerome's strong grip on her arm. The touch sent a pleasant shiver up her spine.

"Are you ok?" Jerome's voice brought her back. "Mara? You don't look too well."

"I'm fine!" She snapped, breaking out of his grasp "Just leave me alone." And Jerome, for once, did as he was told.

Mara watched in shock as he stepped out of her way. "Then go. I won't stop you."

She stared. Had he..? Really…? Listened to her? What? What the heck was going on? Unless…he was fulfilling last night's promise to change. But then why was she feeling a bit…dejected? Did she honestly miss the sarcastic, nosey Jerome, who would follow her around until he found out what was wrong with her? The absurdity of it all!

"Well?" He asked, bring Mara back to their current predicament "Aren't you going to go?"

And just like that, Mara felt her anger flare up. "I am." She growled, purposely shoving past him and stomping up the stairs.

As soon as she got to her room, Mara shut the door and threw herself on her bed. She wasn't mad, she was furious! How dare he! How dare he, for once when she wanted him to ask, he didn't! And to think, he claimed to 'love' her'. Outrageous!

Mara took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. Ok, so maybe she was over reacting. Didn't she want this, for Jerome to leave her alone? But then why did it bother her so much that he didn't even try to find out what was wrong with her? And really, why was she overreacting so much over this anyway? Maybe it was the semi bad break up with Brandon that had her mood going haywire. She never was really good with boys.

Mara sighed once more and pulled out her cell phone. There was only one person who could understand and help her with her boy problems, who always had. Slowly, she dialed the number in and held the phone up to her ear.

It rang twice. On the third ring the person answered. Mara let out an exasperated breath and smiled.

"Hello? Sara? It's me. I got another boy problem…"

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You**


	15. Chapter 15

**So I'm back with chapter 15! Sorry that I've been MIA for so long, and for those of you who are still reading this story, thank you! You guys really are my loyal fans. Enjoy the chapter and please don't forget to review. I really want to hear all your opinions. Thank You!**

By the time Mara had arrived to school the next day, word about her and Brandon's break up had spread around like a wildfire. Everywhere she went, a chorus of whispers followed. But that wasn't the worst part. It wasn't the obnoxious stares, the hushed whispers, not even the tight lipped smiles. Sara had already warned her that it would happen.

No, the worst part was how Brandon was treating her.

He was ignoring her, refusing to acknowledge her existence. Even when he had walked into class almost thirty minutes late, he didn't even blink an eye her way, choosing to instead sit at the very back with his head down. Even when she tried to get his attention, she was blatantly ignored. And that stung more than any verbal or physical assault ever could. His silence was a firm reminder that there was a rift between them now. And it was all her fault.

Mara sighed and shifted in her seat. Above her, the class clock ticked slowly. The atmosphere in the room was tense, and the only one who seemed to be unaware of it was Mr. Jillian. Time dragged on sluggishly. Every minute felt like an hour and her classmates' fleeting glances between her and Brandon didn't help better her nerves.

Brandon.

Mara swallowed. Even when she tried not to think about him, she could feel his presence behind her. At one point she had even sensed his eyes on her. Feeling silly at the thought, she had twisted around for a reassuring peek and had caught him staring at her. His head was still slumped on the desk, chin propped up by his elbows, but his gaze was hollow. His eyes were a muddy brown, devoided of any emotion, and the look he had cast her way was blank. A feeling of remorse had twisted in her gut at his counter essence and she had quickly turned back in her seat, her heart thudding loudly in her chest.

The school bell rung loudly, jolting Mara out of her trance. Blinking, she quickly looked around the classroom and noticed that almost everyone had already scurried out. Almost. Brandon still sat hunched forward in his seat, making no apparent show of moving any time soon. By this point even Mr. Jillian had left the class room. It was now only her and Brandon left. The second warning bell rang. He still didn't move.

Timidly, she got up and walked over to him. Standing in front of his desk, Mara paused, unsure what to do. Should she call him? Wake him? Tell him that class was over? She reached out, intending to gently shake him awake.

"Don't touch me."

Her hand froze in place at the sound of his voice. Brandon tilted his head up to look at her from between his elbows. Mara's hand dropped to her side. They both stared at each other wordlessly. The final bell rung, indicating that they were both late for their next class.

She swallowed. Her mouth felt like sandpaper. "Brandon, I-"

He stood up, abruptly cutting her off, and grabbed his bag. "I have to go to class."

"But, Brandon-"She started again, desperately trying to catch up with him as he walked to the door. "Wait, I need to talk to you."

He suddenly stopped and turned, causing her to almost crash into him. "What Mara? What do you possibly want to talk to me about now?"

His harsh tone had her inwardly flinching, but she waver. Instead, she reached up and gently touched his face. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly. "I am really sorry about everything. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, Brandon. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I'm so sorry. Believe me."

Brandon sighed and closed his eyes. "If you're asking for forgiveness, I can't offer you any, Mara."

She shook her head. "I'm not, Brandon. I never was. I just don't want things to be forever strained between us."

He opened his eyes and gave her a rueful smile. "I can't promise you that. But what I can say is that it will take time."

She nodded and took a step back. "That's understandable."

"Yeah," He agreed, running a hand through his dark hair "it is." He glanced back at her, and without warning, pulled her forward into a kiss. Mara's eyes widened in surprise, but before she could react, Brandon had already drawn back.

"I really did like you, Mara." He murmured against the top of her head, wrapping her up in his arm. "A lot. But I guess it's time to let go."

He stepped back, giving her a final heart breaking smile. "Goodbye, Mara."

And then he was gone, leaving her alone in empty class room, with a painful feeling of emptiness in her chest.

* * *

She didn't know how long she stood there, replying Brandon's last words over in her mind, but somehow amidst her thinking, her feet had brought her to her locker. And once she looked up at it, she instantly wished she had stayed in the empty classroom. The word** 'SLUT' **was painted across her locker door in big, bright, red letters. It was fresh too. Blobs of red paint dribbled of the blue door and streaked down to the waxed floor.

Mara numbly stared at the writing. Had it really come to this point where her harassment would lead to vandalization of school property? What would Mr. Sweets think of this, especially since she was the school Representative?

"Wow," a voice commented from beside her. "that's rough."

She nearly jumped two feet in the air. "Eddie!" Mara cried, once she had gotten her heart under normal speed. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you, Ms. Rep." Eddie shrugged, lacing his hands behind his head. "Ditching class. But seriously though, who coulda thought that even this prestigious boarding school could be brought down with high school drama." He peeked a look her way. "You ok?"

"Of course I am." Mara answered automatically, tracing a finger over the letter S. "Why wouldn't I be? It's just pointless harassment. Nothing big."

"Yeah, but still. I've seen it all happen before in Cali. Girls are relentless. Was it because you dumped Brandon?"

"I guess so-" Her finger stopped in mid-trace and she turned to look at Eddie. "What did you say?"

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "Um, I asked if this paint job was done because you dumped Brandon? Why? Did I say something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, no. You didn't. I thought everyone was under the impression that he broke up with me and not the other way around."

Eddie snorted and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Please. Anyone with a pair of properly functioning eyes would see that he was totally whipped by you."

This time it was Mara who perked up an eyebrow. "Whipped?"

Eddie grinned. "Heh, never mind. I forgot that you Brits don't know any American slang. What I meant was that he was totally head over heels for you. And judging from how the whole morning he's been dragging his feet around like a zombie, he was not too happy with the break up. Meaning…" He playfully flicked her nose. "You dumped him. Didn't know you were such a heart breaker, Ms. Rep. The world better watch out for a goody-two shoe heart breaker."

Mara glared and touched the tip of her nose. "You are mistaken. I am not a heart breaker."

His brown eyes lit up with mischief. "Oh? So you admit that you're a goody-two shoe then? I knew it!"

"I am not!" Mara protested. "I was at the party, remember? I thought we cleared that assumption of me being a goody two shoe?"

Eddie's eyebrows crunched together in confusion. "You were at the party?" He asked. "Friday's party?"

Mara stared. "Yes. I was with Brandon? In a black dress? We even danced a little…"

"Oh!" He cried. "That hot chick was you? I was so wasted that I didn't even realize who was who. Everything was hazy. And you said we danced and and…_oh_." His eyes widened. "Shit."

"Yes." Mara crossed her arms and shot him a blank look. "Shit is the appropriate word for the situation." She answered dryly.

"Fuck." Eddie murmured, running a hand through his untruly hair. "No wonder you seem to hate me, Mara. I acted like a total ass. I'm sorry. I was so wasted that I had no idea what the hell I was doing."

She sighed and uncrossed her arms. "I don't hate you, Eddie. You're just…difficult at times."

"Oh?" A grin stretched across his face and his eyes danced with mischievous. "Now I'm difficult eh, Ms. Rep? I guess it's just my bad boy charm."

Mara scoffed. "Please, it's highly unattractive. Bad boys are so overdone. It's saddening."

"And is that the reason why you dumped the golden good boy of our school and ditched class? For someone who hates the typical 'bad boy/girl' scenario, you're sure acting like a good girl gone bad." Eddie mused.

And just like that, Mara's playful mood fizzed out and realization came thundering down on her. Hard. Eddie was right, what was she doing? Cutting class, lying, ripping hearts? Who was she turning into? Really? She had gone to a party, gotten drunk and cheated on her boyfriend. Not once, but twice! She had even used him to make someone else jealous, strung him along, and crushed his heart.

Brandon's last words came floating back. 'I really did like you, Mara…' She closed her eyes. And what was worse, was that she never even liked Brandon in the first place. It was all a ploy that had somehow become a reality just so she could fire back at Jerome. Jerome. It could always lead back to Jerome. It was always him from the start. The tainted boy who had smudged her essence with his ink filled hands.

And now she too was tainted. No, she was worse. She was ugly. She had somehow let her ugly side resurface once again. It had sublimely creeped out from the locked up abyss and had slithered its way back into her life.

Mara staggered forward and grabbed the locker for support. "I-I need to go."

Eddie's smile dropped. "Hey, are you ok? Mara, you're turning pale." He reached out to steady her, but she swatted his hand away.

"I'm fine." She snapped, pushing off the locker. "I just need to go." She turned around and began to walk.

"And where will you go?" She heard Eddie call after her.

"Where ever my feet take me." She murmured to herself. "Somewhere I find peace."

* * *

And so she walked. Endlessly around the empty hallways of the school. The chipped blue walls greeted her and the eerie silence of the school calmed her nerves. But even despite the quietness around her, inside her head, turmoil brewed.

Thoughts crashed together in colors of red and orange, of different feelings and emotions. She felt like she was being torn in to. Her Ethos and Logos were split down the middle, or maybe they were smashed together. Stitched up all wrong like something out of Frankenstein's Monster.

She was too dazed in thought to notice a figure lurking about. It was only when she was suddenly whirled around and not too gently pushed into a nearby locker, that she finally realized that she was not alone. She glared up at her captor, fully intent on snapping at him, until she saw who it was. Her protest died on her lips.

Jerome loomed above her, looking down, and caging her between his arms. An aura of instability crackled around him.

"Why?" He asked quietly. His exterior mimicked calm, but Mara knew better. His eyes were livid. Irises of stormy blue jumped and swirled with grey, creating a thundering shade of murky sapphire. "Why didn't you tell me you broke up with Conroy?"

"Because," she answered evenly, ignoring the sudden flutter of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. "it doesn't concern you, Jerome."

He smiled and all traces of civilness vanished. The person that stood before her was none other than the wolf in sheep's clothing. He leaned down. "Oh, I think it does, little Mara." He was so close. So close that she could feel his breath on her lips. And oh, how her body ached for him. She wanted nothing else but to reach up, and sink her fingers in his soft hair, and pull him down to her level until their lips touched.

But she wouldn't do that. Couldn't. Not after what she had done to Brandon. It wouldn't be right.

"No, Jerome," She whispered, reaching out and touching his face with her red inked fingers, "it doesn't. You had no part in our relationship. Our breakup had nothing to do with you." She slid her fingers down, streaking his cheek and jaw with her presence. Marking him as her own. "So stop asking and get off."

He leaned into her touch, and she felt a tiny shudder go through him. "You're lying, Mara." He answered, staring at her with half lidded eyes. "Your break up had everything to do with me. I'm done beating around the bush. You want me." He leaned down and pressed his lips to neck. "As much as I want you. Stop fighting and give in. We belong together."

She choked out a laugh. She really was terrible, wasn't she? Tears brimmed her vision. "Yes, yes we do. Two dysfunctional people as one."

And she reached up and kissed him.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey everyone, guess what? I'm not dead! I am so sorry for not updating in ages (for those of you who still follow this story/ship. I know people have apparently jumped Jeroy ship?) but I was busy. Thank you for the wonderful reviews and hope you enjoy this chapter. As always, reviews are welcomed. Would love to hear all your thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Enjoy!**

The kiss was different.

It wasn't like their usual kisses. It wasn't hot nor was it passionate. It wasn't filled with desire or was it sinful. No, it was desperate. Desperate and yearnfull, filled with unspoken promises and a sense of belonging. It felt right, but at the same time, it was wrong.

It was a kiss of the damned. And somewhere in the back of her hazy mind, Mara knew that she was the one who ignited it.

She pulled away, and leaned her head back against the lockers. "No." She murmured, covering her eyes with her hands. "No, no, no, no!" What on earth was she doing? Kissing him was wrong. Kissing him meant that she had already accepted his proposal, that they belonged together. That they worked.

And it scared her.

It frightened her to bits. This new and preposterous idea of completion. A sense of balancing and openness. That being with him meant that she could let her whole self-show. Could have the parts of her that she tamed away, let loose. Could let her ugly side resurface. But most of all, what scared here was that to be with him, she would have to hurt Brandon even more.

Guilt and remorse churned within her, chocking her from the inside out. A stray tear slipped down her cheek. To be with Jerome mean t that she would hate herself.

"Mara." Jerome's soft voice brought her back and she felt him rest his forehead on top of her head. "Mara, look at me. Please."

She swallowed at the note of desperation in his voice and shook her head, refusing to move her fingers from her eyes. "I can't"

"Why not?" He asked, fingers drawing a delicate patter on the back of her hand.

"Because," she whispered, curling her hands into fits. "I'm afraid."

His fingers stilled. "Of what, Mara?"

She didn't answer.

"Mara," He asked again. "What are you afraid of?"

She squeezed her eyes tighter. "Of you." She finally answered. "Jerome, I'm afraid of you."

As soon as those words left her lips, Mara felt his body lurch away, and instantly she knew the wrong words had slipped out. Mara stiffened, missing the warm contact immediately, and slowly lowered her hands from her face.

Jerome stood in front of her, blue eyes wide, and body ridged in unconcealed shock. "_What_?"

She swallowed, guilt gnawing at her chest at his crestfallen expression. "Jerome, no," she desperately started, reaching out toward him "I didn't mean it like that-"

"Then how exactly did you mean it like, Mara?" He spat, recoiling from her outstretched hand. Hurt and anger fueled his rage and he took another step back. "I'm sorry that I _scare_ you that much, Mara. If I had known this before, I would have made my presence scarce."

He gave her one final chilling smile, hollow and empty; turned, and walked the opposite way. She felt her stomach drop at his retreating back. He was taking her declaration all wrong. She wasn't particularly afraid of _him_, just the strange new feeling he evoked in her. His presence in her life was frightening, real, and unexpected. He'd made her yell, cry, laugh, be a bolder person, and the most important thing, he made her _feel_. She felt more alive in the past two weeks than she had in months, and it was all because of him. Even though Mara didn't particularly approve of his methods, it was clear that she was grateful to him.

So grateful, that she had hurt him. Badly.

But she couldn't give up now, she had to try again. Try and explain herself correctly, and salvage whatever progress they had made in their relationship. Did they even have a relationship? A tiny voice at the back of her mind whispered no. What they had was a mesh of emotions, clash of lust, and a tug of war. But whatever they had-have- was still developing, and whatever it was, it was important to her. It was all that mattered at the moment.

With that in mind, Mara sprinted off after him, hoping to catch him before he did something drastic.

* * *

Fifteen minutes and extreme searching later, Mara found herself wandering around in the gardens out back. The crisp May air sent a shiver down her spine, but despite being cold, Mara forced herself to tread through the quite sanctuary. The grass felt damp beneath her feet and the roses were coated with early morning dew. She traced one, catching the tiny droplet of water on her fingertip and watched it tremble down the length of her arm. It glimmered in the sunlight, like a tiny diamond tear.

A small smile curved its way across her mouth. How long had it been since she last enjoyed the gardens? Two, maybe three years at most? She remembered the first time she had found the place. Freshly dropped off at the age of twelve, wide eyed, and lost. She had accidently stumbled into it, mistaking it for the school court yard entrance, and fell instantly in love. The soft smell of flowers and the rustle of trees had made her feel like it was her own home garden back at her home town.

"I see you found your way back here again."

Her eyes snapped open and she whirled around to face the voice. Behind her, Jerome stood leaning against a tree, and refusing to look at her. He held a delicate pink rose between his fingertips, twirling it and watching the dew sprinkle off all over the place. Mara watched, mesmerized as the sunlight inked its way through the tree top, brightening the red paint streaks down his face and making them stand out even more against his pale skin. He looked like freshly done painting, blending perfectly in with the rest of the surrounding scenery.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's not polite to stare?" He asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. He still didn't look at her, his attention solely on the flower at hand, and suddenly Mara felt her desperation kick into high gear.

"Jerome," She called out, taking an attentive step toward him. When he didn't react, she took another, and another, until there was only an arm's length of distance between the two. "Jerome, look at me."

"Why are you here?" Was his only response.

"You know why I am here." She replied, frustrating ebbing away her desperation. "I came here to apologize. What I said back there was not what I meant. I mean, I did mean it, but not in the context that you're thing of, and, and, _look at me damn it_!"

At her last statement his head snapped up. "What do you want from me, Mara?"

She almost laughed at his response. "What do_ I_ want from _you_? _What_ do I _want_? Ha! Let's see, for the past week you have been barging into my life for no apparent reason, always putting your two cents in. Claiming this, and ordering that, and never letting me do what I want! Always imposing!" Her breath hitched and angry tears began to prick her eyes at every word. "And now, when I say something that hurt your feelings, you run away to lick your wounds, and when I try to apologize, to explain what I meant, you act like a three year old sodding child and refuse to even make eye contact! What do I want from you Jerome? Nothing! No bloody thing at all! I don't even know why I bothered to waste my time trying to fix whatever this," She pointed a finger between them "is. But guess what? My mistake. Have a good day Jerome." She spat, furiously swiping away angry tears with that back of her hand.

She turned to go, fully contemplating to storm back to the Anubis house and hide away the rest of her day in her bed. Maybe then this whole mess could be blown over peacefully. No Jerome, no Brandon, no rumors, and no vandalism.

Slowly, she walked away. One step, then another, then another; all the while silently hoping that Jerome would call her back, stop her from leaving. But when she reached the end of the garden and still heard no peep from Jerome, her heart sank. She knew he wouldn't call out for her.

And she didn't know what hurt more, the fact that he didn't stop her or the fact that she wanted him too.

**Hope you like it. Please review and I will post more chapters up. Thank You!**


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